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PSU’s run game broke out vs. Purdue

PSU's run game broke out vs. Purdue

Through the first four weeks of Big Ten play, Penn State was searching for an identity on the offensive side. It may have found it last week with the emerging of Cam Wallace and the run game, with a healthy dose of regular starter Carson Hansen, as well.

Wallace ran for 135 rushing yards, while Hansen was just short of the century mark against Purdue.

It was a surprise to see Wallace as the starter against the Boilermakers, but it was a reward for having a solid two weeks of practice during the bye week and leading up to the game. Wallace had only seen two carries since the start of the Big Ten slate.

"Really proud of Cam and Carson and how those guys ran," Mouser said. "I challenged those guys for a long time -- the whole running back room -- to be able to have somebody draw a line in the sand and say, 'I'm going to be the guy.'"

The bye week was a time for coaches to evaluate where the team was after four straight losses. Campbell said sometimes coaches over-scheme to put the team in the best position possible

"I think when you’ve got the ability to really sit down and digest it all, and let’s try to really make sure we’re fundamentally teaching and we’re growing at what we can do best, and then we’ll see as we grow ourselves forward," Campbell said. I think that was really the emphasis, and really kind of has been the emphasis since USC on, to be honest with you.

"I just think we had a little bit more time to fundamentally attack it during the bye week, but I think that group from the offensive side of it, we were able to find a little bit better rhythm in terms of how we want to run the football and what that needs to look like.

TRAVEL PLANS

With a game on Saturday on the West Coast in Seattle, the Lions will travel on Thursday to Washington rather than a traditional Friday flight.

With a 3:30 kickoff, Campbell felt the right move was to fly out on Thursday. Had it been a later game, PSU would have considered going out on the regular travel day on Friday.

"I felt like if we got in Friday, boy, you’re going to be really pushing it," Campbell said.

Williams, a UCLA transfer, pointed out that the travel schedules for the teams in the West Coast are usually tougher than those in the east.

"I think I had it worse last year than this year," Williams said. "I went from L.A. to Indiana and back, Michigan and back. Every other week I'm going across the country. The travel is a little bit lighter for me now. It's football at the end of the day. It's no big deal."

Adjusting the players' sleep schedules when they get to the pacific time zone was one of the factors in leaving a day early.

"If it was a later game, maybe it would have been a different approach, but the fact of it being when the game time is plus the travel time, we just felt like this was the best situation for us," Campbell said.

FAKE FIELD GOAL AFTERMATH

On Penn State's first drive against Purdue, the offense stalled at the Purdue 23-yard line and sent Ryan Barker out for a field goal.

But special teams coordinator Justin Lustig drew up a fake with holder Nathan Tiyce, an Australian, who tossed an underhand shovel pass to Brahmer. Brahmer took the pass 16 yards for a first down, and the Lions scored the first touchdown of the game on the next play.

"I was really excited for the fake field goal," Mouser said. "I was (mad) that we didn't convert on the third down, but I was excited just watching it in practice. The Aussie underhand spin looked insane to me. Getting the ball to Brahmer is always a good deal, and he was going to go do something good regardless."

Brahmer said they worked on the play every day in practice, and he was ready for it.

"(Tiyce) threw a good ball. It was a pretty cool play design by Coach Stig," Brahmer said. "I was excited for it when they called it. It worked out well."

FORTH-DOWN SUCCESS

Penn State went 3 for 3 on fourth down on Saturday in a more aggressive approach than Campbell showed in his first seven games with the Nittany Lions.

Campbell pointed out that his teams are among the most successful in fourth down conversions in the country over the last four years. He said he is making the best possible decision he can in those moments.

"You’re trying to do what’s best for the moment and the situation," Campbell said. "The reason I didn’t go for it later in the game was you’re up two scores, you’re playing good defense, and man, you don’t want to give them the momentum coming back into the game."

While Campbell has the final say, Mouser said he always wants to go for it on fourth down.

"There's times where I try to call the play before (Campbell) sends the punt team out just so he knows I'm confident what it is, and I want to keep the offense on the field," Mouser said. "He'll usually ask me if there's a play I like, and I'll always say yes even if I don't. I just have a lot of trust in our guys, and I'm too competitive to ever say no."

NEW APPAREL

During their press conferences, Becht and Brahmer both wore Adidas shirts that had OTO on it, which stands for 'own the outcome.'

The shirts were a gift from athletic director Pat Kraft, which came with a note in their lockers.

"It was understanding that we got to control what we can control, and continue working as hard as we can in practice and whatever happens to us on Saturdays," Brahmer said.

NOTABLE

• It was announced on Monday that next week's Penn State game with Minnesota will be a night game with either a 7 or 7:30 p.m. kickoff. The network televising the game will be announced this weekend.