Biggest surprises from Penn State's first win under Matt Campbell

The Matt Campbell era is off to a roaring start in Happy Valley, as the Penn State Nittany Lions thoroughly dominated the Marshall Thundering Herd in their 45-0 victory to open the season. We learned a lot about this reconstructed roster in Week 1, so let's break down some of the biggest surprises from Campbell's first win at Penn State.

Koby Howard is the real deal

Howard entered the season as the presumed WR3 behind Iowa State transfers Chase Sowell and Brett Eskildsen, but he was Rocco Becht's favorite target in Game 1. The talented sophomore reeled in six of his seven targets for 161 yards, highlighted by a 42-yard catch-and-run for the first touchdown of his career and the first of the Campbell era. 

This came as a surprise because Howard recorded only seven catches for 133 yards in his freshman season, and all of them came after Penn State fired James Franklin. One of the biggest knocks on Franklin during his tenure was his reluctance to play younger talent. Campbell gave Howard his first opportunity to showcase that talent, and he made the most of it.

The running game is a work in progress

Campbell and offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser have spoken about needing to run the ball effectively for the offense to thrive, so they couldn't have been thrilled with the rushing performance in Week 1. Four running backs combined for 159 rushing yards on 40 carries for an average of just 3.9 yards per tote. 

Penn State wanted to see more success on the ground against a below-average Marshall defense, but none of the running backs stood out off the bat. This will likely be a running back by committee without much explosiveness. 

An unlikely freshman standout

It's rare to see a true freshman contribute right away at Penn State, but that's exactly what we saw with Josiah Zayas in Week 1. The Edison, N.J. native, who received rave reviews throughout the offseason, started against Marshall and was one of the most dynamic defensive backs on the field for the Nittany Lions.