Koby Howard has seemingly been trending in the right direction to get back on the field for the first time since Week 3, after an undisclosed injury required surgery. However, after returning to the practice field ahead of Penn State’s Week 9 matchup with Purdue, Howard was sidelined for Weeks 9 and 10.
In his Tuesday press conference, Matt Campbell clarified the situation and hinted that Howard may not return this year.
“Nobody, as you can see, is pressing more to get back on the football field,” Campbell said of Howard. “I think we kind of came to a decision Thursday, Friday, that we’re kind of in a pause state right now on where Koby is at. Again, we were trying to beat a timeline coming back, and I think the reality, as I’ve continued to say, is, I’ve refused to put Koby on the field until he’s 100%.”
“Whether that pause means the end of the season, whether it’s postseason play, I can promise you I’ll let you guys know, but right now, I think we’re in a pause state to make sure that we get him fully back to 100% health.”
So, as Penn State has three games left, hosting Minnesota in Week 11, Rutgers in Week 12, and visiting Maryland in Week 13, it doesn’t sound as though Howard will make an appearance in any of those games.
Koby Howard potentially out for the season after seemingly nearing a return
If Howard’s season is done, as it appears to be, he finishes Year 2 at Penn State with 344 yards and two touchdowns on 12 receptions, with 24 yards and another score on two carries. In non-conference play, he looked to be, by far, Penn State’s most dynamic weapon, but after hardly playing as a true freshman, it’s another season of unfulfilled potential for a player who has somewhat been billed as the savior at wide receiver.
The good news is that in his stead, especially against Michigan and Washington, Chase Sowell, who also missed Week 9 with an injury, has emerged as a clear WR1. Sowell leads the team with 635 yards and four touchdowns on 38 catches, and over his last two outings, has had two 100-yard performances.
When Howard posted two 100-yard games at the beginning of the year, he became the first Penn State wide receiver since Jahan Dotson and Parker Washington in 2021 to have multiple 100-yard receiving games.
Sowell is in his final season of eligibility, so he will not be able to return, but Howard and this version of Sowell would be a quality tandem, probably the best Penn State has had since 2021. Somehow, Howard is still No. 2 on the team in receiving yards, despite having just 12 catches.
Howard still has three seasons of eligibility remaining, but the big question for him is whether he’ll return to Happy Valley for Year 3.
Koby Howard could be preserving himself to enter the transfer portal this offseason
Campbell has spoken incredibly highly of Howard’s push to get back onto the field and has repeatedly shouldered the responsibility for keeping him off it. Without knowing the severity of the injury, it’s hard to speculate about where his recovery is compared to the anticipated timeline.
However, before Tuesday, at no point did this appear to be a season-ending injury. When Howard was first hurt, he took to social media to hint that he may be able to return for the Week 7 trip to Michigan. So, for this to have turned into a likely season-ending injury, it’s hard not to think about the potential offseason implications.
Just last season, star freshman edge rusher Chaz Coleman seemed to shut his season down after a great start to preserve his health to enter the portal. Is Howard doing the same? Penn State fans should hope not, because there won’t be many receivers of his caliber available in the portal, and there certainly aren’t any on the roster right now.
Maybe Campbell is truly protecting Howard from himself, and ensuring that he can return for next season when there will be more at stake for the program. But Campbell is also the coach who played Rocco Becht down the stretch at Iowa State last season when there was little hope of College Football Playoff or Big 12 Championship appearances, and Becht had two shoulder injuries, one of which required offseason surgery.
That just doesn’t feel like how Campbell would handle a situation like this, so again, purely speculating, but there could be something up. And to Howard’s credit, it’s not indefensible to slow-play a return if you have millions of dollars potentially on the line, even if it’s just a ploy for leverage to get a better deal from Penn State.
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