BWI Live: A Penn State football podcast from Blue White Illustrated

What We Know and Don't Know About Penn State Heading Into Wisconsin

September 20, 2026·32 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

Nonconference play is officially in the books, and we're breaking down what we've learned about Penn State — and what's still a mystery — heading into Big Ten play against Wisconsin. We start with the running back situation, where Quinton Martin bounced back from a quiet week with a huge performance against Buffalo. He explains in his own words what changed: not missed assignments, better blitz pickup, and earning the coaching staff's trust. We discuss why that doesn't necessarily make him RB1, and why Penn State's three-back rotation might be a feature, not a problem, heading into conference play. From there, we cover what we know: the receiver room has shown real contested-catch ability, with Koby Howard leading the way and Chase Sowell stepping up as a legitimate second option. What we don't know: how the pass rush holds up once Penn State faces teams that can actually throw the ball, and how big a loss Max Granville's season-ending injury really is. We also dig into red zone execution, an ever-changing safety rotation now that Jeremiah Cooper is healthy, and Matt Campbell's surprisingly conservative fourth-down decision-making so far this season. 0:00 – Intro & Setting Up the Nonconference Wrap-Up1:16 – Nate's Takeaway: Learning From Adversity After the Marshall High3:27 – Debating the Penalties & Sloppiness Against Buffalo7:04 – The Running Back Situation: Quinton Martin's Bounce-Back Game16:57 – What We Know: The Receiver Room's Contested-Catch Ability21:12 – What We Don't Know: The Pass Rush & Life Without Max Granville23:47 – Red Zone Execution: Can They Score From Inside the Ten?26:04 – The Ever-Changing Safety Rotation26:52 – Looking Ahead: How Good Is This Team, Really?28:39 – Third-Down Efficiency & Matt Campbell's Fourth-Down Decision-Making Subscribe to Blue White Illustrated on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3KzEcqK Check out the site too! - https://www.on3.com/teams/penn-state-nittany-lions/?utm_source=publisher&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=subscriber_referral&ref=418462 Get 20% off and free shipping at Fanatics with our affiliate link: https://fanatics.93n6tx.net/OeZg2z Use Code BWI20 to get 20 percent off Rhoback’s Gameday Collection: https://rhoback.com/collections/pennsylvania-state-university-licensed-collection Want breaking news like this delivered straight to your inbox for FREE? Sign up today for the BWI breaking newsletter! You’ll also get daily updates with the top headlines of the day five times a week. Click here to sign-up! https://www.on3.com/teams/penn-state-nittany-lions/newsletter/join/ #PennState  #NittanyLions   JOIN Blue White Illustrated: https://www.on3.com/teams/penn-state-nittany-lions/join/?plan=annual SUBSCRIBE to Blue White Illustrated on YouTube and enable alerts - new highlights and videos uploaded regularly: https://www.youtube.com/c/bluewhiteillustratedvideo?sub_confirmation Bookmark our homepage: https://www.on3.com/teams/penn-state-nittany-lions/ Subscribe to BWI Magazine and Newsletters:  https://bluewhiteonline.com  Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BlueWhiteIllustrated/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/PennStateOn3 Music and SFX from Zapsplat.com   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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