'We Looked Like a Real Football Team,' Penn State's OC Says of Win Over Purdue

For Penn State offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser, the Nittany Lions' 31-17 win over Purdue gave him permission to exhale. Mouser had wound himself so tightly through the team's four-game losing streak that he began feeling "desperate" (his word) to get a win. And not just for himself or the team.

"It meant everything," Mouser said of Penn State's first Power 4 win this season. "When you say desperate, I would say that I was desperate. When you’re not winning here, and you’re not living up to the standard, you feel like you’re letting a lot more people down than just the players, the coaches. The alumni here, those people built the standard here that you have to live up to. And when you don’t do it, you’re letting everybody down."

Mouser has been forthright this season about his performance as offensive coordinator. He graded his playcalling harshly through the first two games and lamented the team's inability to run or find some key passing targets (notably tight end Ben Brahmer) before playing Michigan.

But last weekend, Penn State rushed for 269 yards (by far its highest number against a Big Ten team) and followed the vapor trail of Cam Wallace's career 135-yard game. Most importantly, Mouser reveled in the fact that Penn State's offense had the ball for a season-high 43:27 in time of possession, a nearly 27-minute advantage over the Boilermakers.

"We were not playing with the standard I had set or envisioned for the offense," Mouser said of the losing streak. "So for me, it was just about those guys going out there and being able to play with a level of physicality and a level of violence, a level of conviction with each other and to be able to see real chemistry at the line of scrimmage and real communication. We looked like a real football team at times in the game, so I was happy with just the way that those guys practiced."

Penn State OC Taylor Mouser said the offense's performance vs. Purdue "meant everything."

"I would say that I was desperate. When you’re not winning here and you’re not living up to the standard, you feel like you’re letting a lot more people down..."

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Mouser has been a major proponent of head coach Matt Campbell's letterman's outreach program and said he was built for coaching at Penn State. Before the season. Mouser, who was Campbell's offensive coordinator for two seasons at Iowa State, said he wanted Penn State fans to "know how I much a care about the history of this place."

"They want to see it done the right way," Mouser said in August. "I promise, coach Campbell, ourselves, the players and our staff, we're leaning into that. There's one way to do it at Penn State. You have to have thick skin. You've got to be gritty, you've got to be tough, you've got to be willing to grow up where Coach Campbell says: the rough side of the mountain."

Mouser didn't feel as though he was living up to that ethos until last Saturday's win at Beaver Stadium.

"Nobody ever, I mean even through the losing streak that we had, was ever pointing fingers, blaming anybody," Mouser said. "We knew at some point we were going to get the rock to turn over, as coach Campbell had said. So it meant a lot to me to be able to go out there and even just celebrate with the guys after the game, even for a couple minutes in the locker room. You spend so much time working through when it doesn't work and you’re trying to explain to those guys why it doesn't after the game.

"So it's good to be able to go and love those guys and hug them and tell them you appreciate the hard work and sacrifice. Like I said before, you felt like we were a play away at times here and there but the consistency factor is what we lacked, and you do that from being a good team that practices hard and those guys did a great job over the two weeks of taking the bye week seriously."

Penn State visits Washington this Saturday for the first time since 1921. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET at Husky Stadium. FS1 will televise.

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