Breathe, folks.

Penn State football escaped Seattle with a 28-25 win over Washington despite the Huskies’ best efforts to seal a signature comeback victory.

The Nittany Lions ran a heavy dose of Carson Hansen and Cam Wallace out of the backfield once again, but the former ran away with the spotlight in the Emerald City.

“He’s got his confidence back. You saw that the past two weeks, and now he’s able to go out there and play free, play loose, and be a ball player like he always was,” quarterback Rocco Becht said postgame.

Hansen crafted his best game of the season against Purdue in Week 9, pounding the rock 17 times for 96 yards and one touchdown. His efforts went a little underappreciated due to Wallace’s monstrous 135-yard performance, but Hansen was Penn State’s heart and soul on offense in Seattle.

The Lakeville, Minnesota, native dashed for 119 yards and Penn State’s opening touchdown on 14 carries.

West Coast tuddy! pic.twitter.com/Af3ruSEa6T

— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 7, 2026

“I appreciate [Becht] for saying that, and you just got to keep coming to work every day. You can’t take it, you can’t be satisfied, we got to go back to practice,” Hansen said. “There’s still so many things that we can improve on, so I’m just excited to get back and be with these guys because these moments are fleeting. You just got to be present in the moment with the guys and the memories that we make.”

Hansen’s best game in the blue and white whittled itself down to a 2nd-and-6 from Penn State’s own 42-yard line with 6:15 left in the fourth quarter.

The Huskies held all of the momentum after battling back to make it a three-point game. The Nittany Lions punted, turned it over on downs, and punted twice more in their previous second-half drives to that point.

It’s impossible to say what would have happened if Penn State stalled on the drive, but it’s fair to assume the Huskies would’ve put a good scare in to end the game. But Hansen had other plans.

The running back scampered down the left-hand side for 36 yards in his defining play of the season so far, which felt like the momentum-shifter to set up Penn State’s win.

“The offensive line being able to make those holes late in the game, they’ve just done such a great job the past couple of games,” Hansen said. “I just really appreciate them and all the work that they put in throughout the week and all the sacrifices that they make.”

While Hansen offered his gratitude to the offensive line, Matt Campbell had nothing but garlands and praise for his All-Big 12 running back. He’s been a firm believer in Hansen through the entire season, especially while the running game failed to get anything going prior to the bye week.

Campbell and the coaching staff emphasized schematic changes to pair the offensive line with Hansen’s strengths, among the other three running backs.

“Once we said, ‘Man, let’s [get] something, let’s get a foundation for these backs to get north and south and let this offensive line have some confidence in what they’re doing,’ I think that really helped us,” Campbell said. “When you do that as the running back, Carson’s always been a player. The more he goes in the game, the better he gets.”

Hansen started the game off fast. His first five runs accounted for 57 of his final 119 yards, including a 20-yard dash on his first carry of the day.

His increased patience was on full display on his touchdown run as well. It seemed through the season that he’d run through the line of scrimmage without allowing blocks to develop, resulting in minimal gains on first and second down. His newfound patience has translated to not only better rushing, but better offense for Penn State as a whole.

“Sometimes we’re going too fast and missing a hole, so just trying not to press, that’s probably the biggest thing for us,” Hansen said. “We were able to do that, and the offensive line made that divide, so I was able to run through it.”

Hansen’s increased production benefiting the offense as a whole was imperative for the team to address and correct in the bye week. They held specific meetings to emphasize the need for better running overall, and now, Hansen is focused on maintaining that production through the final three games of the season.

“We just got to keep continuing, taking it one day at a time. We can’t get an ego about it. We have to stay humble in all this and take it one day at a time, because it always can be better,” Hansen said.

Hansen’s performance against the Huskies demonstrates tangible growth from Week 1 to Week 10. Sure, Wallace broke out with the Boilermakers, but that came way out of left field.

The Nittany Lions have pounded and put Hansen through the wringer. It was time for his moment. He will forever have that 2nd-and-6 run in Seattle.

“That’s what we’ve been striving for all year. We got to execute when it comes to the end of the game. We were able to do that … I’m just grateful to be playing for this university,” Hansen said.

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