How Koby Howard Emerged as Penn State's Top Playmaker vs. Marshall

STATE COLLEGE | Penn State wide receiver Koby Howard arrives at the football facility at 5:15 every morning to the strength and conditioning coaches’ rock music blasting in the background. It annoys him sometimes, but he heads to the JUGS machines and deals with it.

Howard doesn’t leave the building after practice, either. He stays to catch footballs with freshman Amarion Jackson, a habit he carried over from last year, when he did the same with now-Virginia Tech wide receiver Tyseer Denmark.

“That's something that was engraved in [me] growing up,” Howard said Saturday night at Beaver Stadium. “I just feel like I can't go out there and perform if I'm not working hard. I'm not one of those guys that'll just sleep through stuff and not work hard, and then expect to go do it on gamedays, because that's not how it works.”

Howard is one of Penn State’s young budding stars and, in Penn State’s 45-0 win over Marshall, put his name out there nationally with a dominant performance. The sophomore caught six passes for 161 yards and a touchdown, becoming the first Penn State wide receiver to eclipse 150 yards in a game since Parker Washington totaled 179 vs. Ohio State in 2022.

Howard recorded 122 of those yards in a first half that included a 42-yard touchdown (the first of his career) and a spectacular 42-yard catch-and-run over the middle. Those plays unwound some of memories of last year, when Howard averaged 19 yards per catch but made only seven receptions as the offense's fourth or fifth receiver.

Penn State’s coaches suggested last season that Howard needed to be more consistent in practice, and Campbell saw something similar early on with the receiver.

"When you see a guy like Koby, it's the flashes you saw of what he could do [last season]," Campbell said in August. "I think what I would say about Koby, his challenge is, and he and I have talked about this, consistency. Can you be the best version of you every day? It's not a matter of, do you have elite traits? It's having those elite traits show up with great consistency.”

'I had stuff to prove'

Koby Howard gets @PennStateFball on the board for the first time this season 👏

Watch on FS1 pic.twitter.com/1OC6waJvNE
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) September 5, 2026

Howard took that challenge personally during summer workouts, training camp and in Saturday’s game.

“I went in there knowing that I had stuff to prove,” Howard admitted. “I was showing the coaches that I could be trusted, and I really don’t want to come off the field, honestly. So it was just showing the coaches that I could do that and showing them that they could throw me the ball in the game.”

Campbell noticed that through Howard’s early arrivals to the building, which he began during summer workouts and continued through training camp.

“It's 5:15 in the morning, and the first guy in the facility catching the jugs is Koby Howard, and that's been that way since spring,” Campbell said. “That's been that way almost every day in the summer, and that hasn't wavered as we've gone into the start of the season. Koby’s work ethic allows him to have real confidence.”

“I definitely caught more balls,” Howard admitted about his preseason. “I didn't really get up in the morning last year. I used to get the work in, but I didn't get up in the morning and do it. So it’s getting up in the morning, working, and then probably in the afternoon doing some more work. Just building on top of that.”

Howard’s impact went beyond the stat line. The receiver set the tone in the first quarter with a 42-yard receiving touchdown through a broken play. Running back James Peoples released out of the backfield on a long second down while Howard ran his route to the first-down marker.

When Peoples slipped, Howard improvised, clearing two Marshall defensive backs who didn’t follow him. From there, he and quarterback Rocco Becht had the touchdown line.

"Kobe did a good job of finding green grass, and I was able to see him for the [throw]," Becht said. "He did a great job after that."

'He's a baller'

Penn State Nittany Lions wide receiver Koby Howard (6) is congratulated after scoring a touchdown vs. Marshall. — Penn State Nittany Lions wide receiver Koby Howard (6) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a touchdown vs. the Marshall Thundering Herd at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Howard and Becht were aligned all afternoon, which they demonstrated on that touchdown. It helped that the two went to California to train in the offseason and asked Campbell to share a hotel room during training camp to build chemistry.

“He's a great roommate,” Howard said of Becht. “Some roommates you have, they snore and stuff like that. He didn't do any of that. We just watched film and then went to sleep. It was great.”

Howard wants to be a go-to guy in big moments, and Becht expects that he will be. Over the summer, Becht said that he wanted to get Howard 1,000 receiving yards this season. They got 16 percent of the way there Saturday.

“He's a baller,” Becht said, “and so today we were able to see what he's capable of doing with the ball in his hands in a real game. So we're going to try to continue to get that guy the ball and make the plays because he's really special.”

The next step for Howard is maintaining that consistency, to which Campbell referred immediately after Saturday's game.

“I think the biggest thing for Koby is just the ability to continue to understand [that] today is also when the ball found him, and there may be days when the ball doesn’t find you,” Campbell said. “How you block and how you do all the things really matters.

“I think the sky is the limit for Koby Howard, and I’m really proud of him, because you were ready for this moment.”

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