Ben Brahmer becomes ‘heartbeat’ of Penn State’s offense to push through slow start

Matt Campbell preached all offseason that he’d know the true identity of this Penn State team when it first faces adversity.

That moment came against Temple at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday. The Nittany Lions failed to score on their first two red zone opportunities, missed a 33-yard field goal, and were tied 3-3 with the Owls deep into the second quarter.

But Penn State responded in a big way with 27 unanswered points en route to a 27-9 win over Temple.

“I felt like nobody flinched, nobody wavered,” Campbell said. “There was no complaining.”

» READ MORE: No. 16 Penn State pulls away from Temple, 27-9, at Lincoln Financial Field

Quarterback Rocco Becht said he was glad to face some difficulties. Now Penn State knows it’s capable of overcoming them and what it needs to work on moving forward.

“I thought it was a good game for us to have,” Becht said. “I think to be humbled coming off of a good win, coming out here and playing Temple, a good team, and we just started off a little slow. I think we needed this early before we got into conference play.”

Tight end Ben Brahmer said Tuesday his position is the “heartbeat” of offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser’s offense, but he and his fellow tight ends were relatively quiet in the passing game against Marshall last weekend.

Saturday against Temple, Brahmer flipped the script and showed why he was a John Mackey Award semifinalist last year. The senior led Penn State with 79 receiving yards and two touchdowns, both of which were 23-yard scores.

“It’s been great,” Brahmer said. “Just kind of keeping my head down and working. I know the ball will come to me when it happens, and I just got to be ready for that. Just got lucky today and got open a couple times.”

Brahmer’s first touchdown Saturday was arguably the most important. With just seconds on the clock before halftime, Campbell decided not to call a timeout.

Becht found Brahmer wide open over the middle of the end zone to put Penn State up, 10-3, as it headed into the locker room.

“Just setting the tone for the rest of the game going into half,” Brahmer said. “It’s huge, winning the middle eight, kind of just staying on the same page, keeping our head down. [Mouser] was making a lot of good calls. We just had to execute those.”

Campbell announced postgame that redshirt sophomore defensive end Max Granville is out for the season after injuring himself at practice this week.

Granville, who missed all of 2025 with an undisclosed injury, was expected to play a big role this season as a young edge rusher with loads of potential. He initially joined the Nittany Lions in 2024 after reclassifying and appeared in seven games.

“Obviously, a really tough blow for our football team, and most importantly, a really tough blow for Max,” Campbell said. “The thing I love about Max is he’s kind of been a pillar of glue for the unity of our football team over the last nine months. Who he is, what his character is, and I think that’s why we’re all really convinced that he’ll come back better than ever.”

» READ MORE: Lincoln Financial Field turns into Beaver Stadium East, Meek Mill’s walk out, and more from Temple vs. No. 16 Penn State

The depth in Penn State’s defensive end room was already thin, with sophomore LaVar Arrington II out for four to six weeks, so Granville’s injury stings.

The Nittany Lions will have to lean on redshirt senior Ikenna Ezeogu, sophomores Yvan Kemajou and Alex McPherson, and redshirt senior Caleb Bacon, who recently switched positions from linebacker to defensive end.

Penn State has three sacks through two nonconference games. Freshman Jackson Ford, a Malvern Prep graduate who recovered a fumble against Marshall, could see more playing time moving forward.

“Max is like a rock to us, and he will be for the future,” said linebacker Tony Rojas. “Just having him along with us on away games is going to be awesome for us and something we need.”