Matt Campbell’s debut as Penn State coach couldn’t have gone better [opinion]

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STATE COLLEGE – Shortly before coaching his first football game Saturday at Penn State, Matt Campbell stood and surveyed Beaver Stadium while trying to soak in the atmosphere.

He didn’t feel the formidable responsibility of leading the Nittany Lions weighing on his shoulders. He felt more thankful than anything else.

“It was really special to come out, watch our fans and watch what this place feels like,” Campbell said. “You look up and see those teams on the press box (suites above the east stands) and you think about some of the great coaches and players who have been here.

“You’re just grateful to have the opportunity to lead this football team and represent this program the right way.”

Campbell’s debut in blue and white couldn’t have gone better as Penn State routed Marshall 45-0 before an announced crowd of 108,489.

Rocco Becht, the most experienced quarterback in the Football Bowl Subdivision, showed why, looking confident and comfortable as he passed for 271 yards for a career-high four touchdowns.

Lions fans finally watched wide receivers create separation from defensive backs and gain yards after the catch. That hasn’t happened in several years.

Koby Howard caught six passes for 161 yards and one touchdown. Brett Eskildsen and Zay Robinson also made TD catches, along with tight end Ben Brahmer.

The defense under former Penn State cornerback D’Anton Lynn shut down Marshall quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, the preseason choice for Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year.

It was the Lions’ most lopsided win in a season opener in seven years.

“I was probably so anxious to see who this football team could be and how we could respond,” Campbell said. “We know just a little bit more. I thought D’Anton and Mouse (offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser) did an unbelievable job.

“There was more anticipation of, ‘What is this going to look like?’ ”

Offensively, the operation was efficient with no false start or delay of game penalties. Campbell didn’t have to burn a timeout because the play clock was running out or that the Lions didn’t have 11 men on the field.

Campbell showed that he has some gambler’s blood in him in the second quarter when he decided to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the Penn State 22 with the Lions holding a 17-0 lead.

Carson Hansen picked up 10 yards on an outside zone run before Penn State scored a touchdown seven plays later to make it 24-0 at the half.

“I’ll be honest with you,” Campbell said. “I don’t know if that was a great call or not. I just wanted to see who we are. Obviously that was a great step forward. We went down and scored.”

Defensively, the Lions tackled effectively and swarmed to the football. They looked very quick, especially linebackers Tony Rojas and Kooper Ebel. The Lions held Marshall to 147 yards.

Campbell’s debut went better than he or anyone else could have hoped.

“It felt like it was taking forever to get here,” said defensive end Caleb Bacon, an Iowa State transfer who had three tackles for loss. “It’s crazy that now it’s over. These eight months we’ve been here, I don’t know if they’ve gone super fast or super slow.

“We’ve been waiting for this first game all month. It was so exciting.”

Campbell’s first game went much better than the ones of the three full-time coaches before him.

James Franklin’s opener in 2014 was a last-second 26-24 victory over Central Florida in Ireland. Bill O’Brien’s debut in 2012 was a 24-14 loss to Ohio University.

Then there was Joe Paterno’s opener in 1966, a 15-7 victory over Maryland in which Mike Reid was credited with three safeties. Terrapins coach Lou Saban quickly ran off the field before he could shake Paterno’s hand. He called Paterno two days later to congratulate him.

“We were both so bad,” Saban said.

Becht called Saturday’s game special and awesome. Many of the 40 transfers on the Penn State roster had never played before such a large crowd. Neither had Campbell or many of his assistants coached in front of 100,000-plus.

He has been so occupied with assembling the roster and preparing the team for this season. He’s hardly had time to catch his breath.

But when former Lions defensive tackle Jordan Hill, who’s on the staff in a player development role, spoke to the team Monday, his words resonated with Campbell.

“Jordan did a great job, talking to our players about this being a special place to play football,” Campbell said. “It means something. The crowd and this fan base mean something. Take a second to soak it in.”

He did.

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