Penn State star second-year receiver Koby Howard was officially ruled out for Week 10 on the Friday night Big Ten availability report. Howard was listed as questionable on the Wednesday availability report for the second straight week, but the injury he suffered in Week 3 against Buffalo continues to linger.
The Nittany Lions will once again be without Howard as they take on 5-3 Washington at Husky Stadium at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Fellow wide receiver Chase Sowell, who has replaced Howard as quarterback Rocco Becht’s favorite target in the offense, was listed as probable on Friday, as he was on the Wednesday report, and slot receiver and primary punt returner Zay Robinson appeared on the report as questionable.
Penn State receiver Koby Howard officially out for a 6th straight game. Friday’s Penn State-Washington availability report. pic.twitter.com/Ra4ukiSUOI
— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) November 7, 2026
Robinson’s status will be the more interesting to monitor, and if he is unable to go, it could be redshirt junior wide receiver Ethan Black who becomes the primary returner for the Nittany Lions. Black has one return on the year for 15 yards.
The real story, though, is Howard’s injury and the understandable fear that he may not make his way back onto the field this season at all.
There is starting to be a real possibility that Koby Howard does not play again this season
Penn State is 1-4 in the five games without Howard, who initially teased a potential return from this undisclosed injury for the Week 7 matchup with Michigan. That game has come and gone, so has Penn State’s bye, and for head coach Matt Campbell’s positive comments about Howard’s recovery, it is beginning to appear less and less likely that he gets back on the field.
Howard had surgery for his injury, as Penn State safety Jamison Patton referenced when talking about his recovery. Without exactly knowing the severity or type of injury, it is impossible to responsibly speculate about where Howard should be in his recovery. No clear timeline was necessarily given as to his recovery beyond “an extended period of time.”
Maybe he is ahead of schedule for the typical timeline of this injury, as Campbell has recently said? With a dearth of information, it is fair to take Campbell at his word. Still, in the modern era of college football, it is also fair to wonder whether Howard will get back on the field at all.
Just last season, Penn State had true freshman Chaz Coleman essentially opt out of the rest of the season after suffering an injury to protect his value in the transfer portal. He eventually transferred to Tennessee with a group of Nittany Lions who followed former defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, though he never played a snap for the Vols.
Even with just three games of tape this year and limited production in 2025 as a true freshman, Howard would be highly sought after on the open market, so he could be protecting his value, either to land a more favorable deal from Penn State for 2027 or to test the portal waters.
To be fair, if he is not quite 100% and does plan to return, it also may not be in Penn State’s best interest to rush him back onto the field either. If there is an overly cautious approach, it could just as easily be the coaching staff holding him back as it is Howard protecting against further injury. Or maybe, he is just not ready. But the longer this lingers, the more questions there will be.
Again, all we have heard out of Penn State is that Howard is working as hard as he can to get back on the field and that he is ahead of schedule. That may be true, but as this injury continues to linger week after week, despite Howard returning to practice ahead of Week 9, fans will continue to wonder if the will see Howard on the field again this season, or in blue and white ever again.
Add us as a preferred source on Google