In his weekly press conference on Tuesday, first-year head coach Matt Campbell was asked about star wide receiver Koby Howard’s availability for Week 7 and told reporters that he won’t be back until after the team’s bye in Week 8. That effectively rules Howard out of Saturday’s matchup with Michigan.
In Penn State’s 31-23 Week 6 loss to USC, Chase Sowell surpassed Koby Howard as the team’s leading receiver. Howard hasn’t played since Week 3, when the Nittany Lions improved to 3-0 in non-conference play. Since Howard has been out with a nagging injury, the team is 0-3, and the offense is averaging 16.3 points per game.
When Howard’s injury was first announced, he posted a picture of Darth Vader in a bacta tank (which is a way characters are healed in Star Wars), with the date 10/17/26, the date Penn State plays Michigan in Ann Arbor this Saturday.
His post harkened back to a similar post from Abdul Carter, who was injured in Penn State’s 2024 Fiesta Bowl win over Boise State and did return for the Orange Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal loss to Notre Dame. Howard, however, was not able to return on his presumably aggressive timeline, and with Penn State at 3-3, not playing for a spot in the national championship game, it’s undeniably best for the team to err on the side of caution.
Penn State will face the best defense on its schedule without its best player
If Koby Howard’s first three games, which included two 100-yard performances, 344 receiving yards, and six total touchdowns, didn’t prove that he’s the best player on Penn State’s offense, his three-game absence absolutely did.
Penn State’s passing game, which is much more productive than its run game, has been stifled without Howard and facing Big Ten competition, and Saturday in Week 7 will be the toughest test all season.
For all Michigan’s flaws in 2026 - and there are many - the defense ranks No. 13 in the country in points per drive and No. 19 in adjusted EPA/play. By defensive success rate, Michigan is No. 6.
Any way you slice it, this is a good defense, facing an offense that, if not buoyed by three games with Howard against Group of Six competition, would have a hard time cracking the top 100 in the FBS statistically. It’s a pretty considerable mismatch made worse by Howard’s absence. Still, there’s no reason to rush him back, if that would even be a possibility at this point, considering how limited the information on Howard’s situation has been made public.
It doesn’t sound as though Campbell is keeping him on ice until after the bye week. He told reporters, “If anybody is going to get back sooner than later, it’ll be Koby Howard just because of how he works.”
After the bye week, Penn State hosts Purdue before traveling to Washington in Week 10.
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