Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1542734
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 6 19 He knew what he wanted and was confi- dent in his staff's ability to develop play- ers like Higgins into major contributors at the Power Four level and beyond. The challenge now is to show that his process works as well in college football's toughest conference as it did in the Big 12. Because of the unique circumstances this year, Campbell's first transfer class at PSU is massive. The Nittany Lions have brought in 39 players, by far their high- est total since the portal was introduced in 2018. During James Franklin's tenure, the Nittany Lions viewed the portal as a sup- plemental resource. Wary of the possi- bility that highly paid newcomers might upset the team's delicate locker room chemistry, Franklin tended to use the NCAA's liberalized transfer rules as a way to patch holes rather than to make whole- sale changes. High school recruiting was still the program's foundation. But the Lions didn't have that luxury this year. Forty-six scholarship players exited via the portal, including a dozen who have rejoined Franklin at his new school, Virginia Tech. The exodus forced C a m p b e l l ' s h a n d . H e needed to re- stock the ros- ter, and the surest way to do that was to bring in the players he knew best. Of the portal prospects that Penn State had signed as of Jan. 19, 24 played for Campbell at Iowa State. All of those Iowa State players re- ceived three-star ratings from On3 coming out of high school. There isn't a former five-star player in the bunch. Campbell doesn't care about that, either. "The flash, the stars — that's cool on signing day, but winning football games on Saturday is what we're going to be about," he said. "That's development. We're going to have to be better than anybody in college football." A Familiar System Of all the position groups that have been revamped since the portal opened on Jan. 2, none has undergone a more thorough overhaul than the quarterbacks room. The Nittany Lions lost all four of this past season's scholarship signal- callers — one to graduation (Drew Allar) and three to the portal (Ethan Grunke- meyer, Jaxon Smolik, Bekkem Kritza). In their place, PSU signed Iowa State trans- fers Rocco Becht and Alex Manske and is also bringing in high school recruits Peyton Falzone and Kase Evans. A three-year starter at Iowa State, Becht has 9,275 career passing yards, sec- ond-most of any returning quarterback in the FBS. His appearance in the portal may have cost Penn State any chance of retaining Grunkemeyer, who threw for 260 yards in PSU's Pinstripe Bowl victory over Clemson, but Becht is thoroughly familiar with the offense that Penn State is going to be installing. He's been with Campbell for the duration of his college career and has spent the past two seasons working with coordinator Taylor Mouser and quarterbacks coach Jake Waters, both of whom have joined Campbell in State College. "To be in the same sys- tem over the past two years and to have that again, it's something that's pretty important to me," Becht told ESPN's Pete Thamel. "It's the best opportunity for me to go into my senior season and show everything I've got." Of the 24 Iowa State imports, more than half started at least one game for the Cyclones last year and three — se- nior tight end Benjamin Brahmer, senior running back Carson Hansen and junior safety Marcus Neal Jr. — received All-Big 12 honors. Becht was an honorable mention All- Big 12 choice in 2024, but he battled shoulder problems last year and saw his numbers decline. Now, he's get- ting healthy again after undergoing la- brum surgery on his left (nonthrowing) shoulder, and he's eager to reteam with the seven Iowa State pass catchers who have joined him at PSU. That list includes three tight ends — Brahmer, redshirt se- nior Gabe Burkle and redshirt sophomore Cooper Alexander — along with four wideouts — redshirt senior Chase Sowell, junior Brett Eskildsen and redshirt fresh- men Karon Brookins and Zay Robinson. Brahmer, Burkle, Sowell and Eskildsen were responsible for 1,774 of Becht's 2,584 passing yards last season. "To have them on the same team and to go out with them one last time, and to bring them over and blend in Penn State's culture and bring what we had at Iowa State is something I'm really ex- cited for," Becht said. 'He's Very Real' While Campbell has pri- oritized the players he knows best, he and his staff have also brought in a handful of con- tributors from schools other than Iowa State. The Lions landed junior running back James Peoples from Ohio State, redshirt sopho- more offensive line- man Brock Riker from Tight end Benjamin Brahmer was a second- team All-Big 12 choice and Mackey Award semifi- nalist after catching 37 passes for 446 yards and 6 touch- downs last season. PHOTO COURTESY IOWA STATE ATHLETICS