Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1543434
6 M A R C H 2 0 2 6 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M P enn State's biggest addition in the transfer portal this offseason, for- mer Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht, won't be featured when the Nit- tany Lions come together for spring practice in March. The redshirt senior signal-caller is coming off surgery to his nonthrowing shoulder in December, and his absence will open the door for an inexperienced quarterbacks room to get the bulk of the action. "It changes the spring," new Penn State quarterbacks coach Jake Waters said in early February. "He'll probably be able to do some stuff about halfway through, throwing-wise; routes on air, maybe some seven-on-seven. He won't get contact or anything like that." That's a drawback, both for Becht and Penn State. They're still in the early stages of their relationship, but there is a silver lining here. Said Waters, "It gives the other guys a great chance to get a ton of reps. They would still get a lot, but now with Rocco out, great. Get thrown into the fire, learn, grow, fail, do great, fail again, and just learn. … We've got to get them up to speed as best we can." Another benefit, Waters said, is that Becht will have a chance to watch the offense operate from a different vantage point and will be in position to help his understudies. "He's almost going to be a third coach out there with the quarterbacks, teach- ing them how to learn the offense, what they're seeing, and how to help them and everything there," Waters said. "I think it would be really good for Rocco to see it through a different lens. He's always out there playing, but now step back and see it through our lens. Just take the mental reps. I think it will be huge. I'm really excited to get all those dudes a ton of reps." Beyond Becht, new head coach Matt Campbell brought redshirt freshman quarterback Alex Manske with him to Penn State. The former four-star pros- pect from Algona, Iowa, is likely to be the backup in 2026 and is the perceived first man up for the Nittany Lions this spring. Redshirt junior walk-on Jack Lambert is the lone holdover from a room that also added senior Division III transfer Connor Barry and a pair of freshman early enroll- ees in Kase Evans and Peyton Falzone. Manske missed most of spring ball last year at Iowa State while recovering from an elbow injury he suffered in high school. He went on to play in three games for the Cyclones as Becht's backup, pre- serving his redshirt in the process. "The growth that he made in fall camp and last year was incredible," Waters said. "He just needs to get more reps and go. He's got all the talent that you want, and he's tough. He can run. He's not scared of contact. We used him for quarterback runs last year. He's a guy who has all the tools. He just needs to keep working on how to be a col- lege quarterback — how to get through reads, how to read defenses. Every decision is super critical that we have to make — how to handle an offense, situational football. Just whatever goes into being a quarterback, he's just got to keep learning and grinding on." The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Manske was an Elite 11 Finals participant in high school and ended up as the highest-rated quarterback recruit in Campbell's tenure at Iowa State. He's got a different style than Becht, and he'll have a chance to showcase it at Penn State this spring. "He's a bigger and more physical run- ner than Rocco," Waters said. "You can do things a little bit different. Rocco can still run it. We've run him the last couple years, situationally. "But Alex is a bigger guy. He does have a really strong arm. You can change it a little bit here and there, but they're both similar in the way that they can throw the ball vertically down the field really well. "They're just different body types. Alex played safety in high school and was hitting people and tackling people. He's got a little bit of a different background. They're very similar in that way, but then also different. Alex has a bigger arm." ■ Coming out of Algona (Iowa) High in 2025, Alex Manske was the No. 266 overall player and No. 20 quarterback in the Rivals Industry Ranking. PHOTO COURTESY IOWA STATE ATHLETICS Backup Quarterbacks Will Be Showcased This Spring JUDGMENT CALL O P I N I O N SEAN FITZ SEAN.FITZ@ON3.COM