STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Even though Penn State’s results don’t show it, Matt Campbell believes his team is making progress.
Getting more physical in the running game against the equally struggling Wolverines would certainly help. “I think we’ve dabbled in a little bit of everything trying to find what these guys do best and give them the most confidence. “Obviously that’s been a squeaky wheel for us and that’s certainly been a discussion, are we playing the right people? I don’t think it’s ever a ‘we are what we are’ but we are a running game without an identity and that’s the reality of the situation. “I know I sound like a broken record, but I will tell you this: I think it’s inches rather than gaps. We got to continue to pound away at it.”
“I think you’re trying to figure out, especially up front, where can we settle this group of young men into,” Campbell said. “We have to find an answer there,” Mouser said. “There’s a couple where, man, there’s one guy that’s off in the run game, and we can’t get to where we need to get to to get to the explosive run,” Campbell said.
Both carried the ball against the Trojans, with 41 of the team’s total yards rushing coming in the first half. It’s not a familiar feeling for Mouser, who spent 10 years at Iowa State, where he coached future NFL players Breece Hall and David Montgomery in relatively successful zone and duo run schemes. Penn State has been without redshirt senior Dominic Rulli, who is dealing with an unspecified injury. He was not listed on the team’s recent injury report and could factor into the rotation against Michigan. Garrett Sexton, who has played in four games this year, could see more time in addition to vaunted prospect Owen Aliciene, who is coming off a redshirt season with the program’s former coaching staff. Neither has been able to find much room to rip off explosive runs.
