Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1542734
D oes momentum still exist in college football? In years past, coaches and players who won their bowl games would gush about how the positive vibes were sure to carry over into the offseason and translate into even better things in the year to come. These days, however, with college football having become even more transactional than the NFL, there's a decent chance the postsea- son heroes will be on some other school's payroll by the time winter workouts begin. Penn State was caught between those two extremes when it closed out its 2025 season with a 22-10 victory over Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 27 in New York. The win was PSU's fourth in a row, and a number of returning players figured prominently, with rising redshirt sopho- more running back Quinton Martin Jr. being the most noteworthy example after rushing for a career-high 101 yards. In addition to providing a stage for up-and-comers like Martin, the game offered yet more evidence that PSU had managed to head off the internal strife that could have followed its decision to hire Matt Campbell as the program's next head coach rather than promoting popular assistant Terry Smith. Smith had agreed to remain on staff shortly after Campbell's appointment, and after hearing the crowd at Yankee Stadium chant his name in the Pinstripe Bowl's aftermath, the PSU alum grace- fully stepped aside. "It was a great ride," Smith said. "I'm ready for the next chapter. I'm ready to pass the torch on to Coach Campbell. He's an amazing individual and leader. Penn State is in great hands, and I'm ready to help him achieve greatness." And yet, the optimistic talk that fol- lowed Penn State's first-ever victory over Clemson was tempered by the knowledge that the program was about to undergo a thorough overhaul, with the transfer por- tal set to open in six days and Campbell's coaching staff still coming together. The Nittany Lions did indeed end up losing a big chunk of their roster. Prior to the portal's closing on Jan. 16, 46 schol- arship players chose to explore their options. That list included two of the team's most promising young players in quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer and defensive end Chaz Coleman, the latter ranked by On3 as the No. 5 overall player in the portal this year. To make up for the personnel short- fall, Campbell and his assistants signed 39 transfers, including 24 players from Iowa State. The Lions brought in a pair of former Cyclone quarterbacks in redshirt senior Rocco Becht and redshirt sopho- more Alex Manske, along with three of Becht's top targets in tight end Benjamin Brahmer and receivers Chase Sowell and Brett Eskildsen. Those players will now be asked to make the jump to college football's toughest conference. After the Big Ten put a team in the College Football Play- off title game for the third consecutive 2 8 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 6 2026 LOOK AHEAD GAME GAME CHANGERS CHANGERS The Nittany Lions will have a new look when they take the field in 2026 M AT T H E R B | M AT T. H E R B @ O N 3 . C O M