Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1544053
APRIL 2026/VOL. 41, NO. 8 MANAGING EDITOR Matt Herb CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Stu Coman Cathy Jones Chris Riffer WEBSITE PUBLISHER Sean Fitz WEBSITE EDITOR Nate Bauer STAFF WRITER Greg Pickel RECRUITING REPORTER Ryan Snyder FOOTBALL ANALYST Thomas Frank Carr CONTRIBUTING WRITER Jim Carlson PHOTOGRAPHY Steve Manuel, Mark Selders, Frank Hyatt COVER PHOTO Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics DESIGN Jeanette Blankenship Chris Miller, Shelby Cragg F F F PUBLISHER Mark Panus BUSINESS ANALYST Sarah Boone CIRCULATION COORDINATOR Beverly Taylor ADVERTISING SALES Maria Taustine (502) 552-4390 CUSTOMER SERVICE Shelby Cragg, Cathy Jones (800) 421-7751 BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED (USPS 742-550) is published monthly, except June, by Coman Publishing Co., a division of On3 Media, Inc., located at 922 Broad St., Suite D, Durham, NC 27705. A one-year (11 issues) subscription is $75.00. First-class, digital and foreign rates available on request. Periodicals postage paid at Durham, NC 27701 and additional mailing offices. Printed by The Papers, Milford, Ind. POSTMASTER: Please send address correc- tions/changes to BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED, PO Box 2331, Durham NC 27702-2331. For advertising or subscription information call 1-919-688-0218 or write BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED, PO Box 2331, Durham NC 27702-2331. Site Lines C O M M E N T S F R O M T H E L I O N S D E N A T B L U E W H I T E I L L U S T R A T E D . C O M W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M ON PENN STATE'S FOOTBALL OUTLOOK IN 2026 … We absolutely MUST keep Rocco Becht healthy this year. If we do, I'm feeling pretty good. — Extra Mayo Connor Barry was a Division III player of the year at Chris- topher Newport and also played at Appalachian State. I wouldn't be surprised if he pushes for the backup quarter- back role. He's from my town in Northern Virginia, and folks around here say he's a baller. But I also acknowledge this is D1 and not D3, lol. — Niftylion I like our running backs. I see no reason why we cannot be successful running the ball in 2026. I foresee us using a rota- tion of Carson Hansen, James Peoples and Quinton Martin, with Cam Wallace being the fourth guy. Focus on running the ball, don't get cute, and we should have a successful season. — RunTheBall We may have quietly landed a really good offensive line transfer class. The Iowa State guys plus Brock Riker could prove to be quite an impactful group. — PaulPosluvzme For the first time in a long time, I feel that there's legit talent in that wide receivers room and it's going to be so much fun seeing receivers make plays for their quarterback this upcom- ing season. — sleepy11hollow This is college football in March. It's all hope. Run it back every year and you will find people with a good feeling about everything — Kaden Saunders, Omari Evans, KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Trey Wal- lace, Kyron Hudson and more. In March, everyone thought they were going to be great. — blackshoes Why does it seem so difficult to recruit one [wide receiver] with absolute blazing speed who can scare a defense? Down here at North Carolina, they recruit one every year, and they usually play one wideout in the spread who is a deep threat. It's been so long at Penn State that I'm having trouble remembering the name of the last true deep threat on the roster. — ApexLion ON THE STRUGGLES OF THE PENN STATE MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM … Remind me: When have we ever had the same level of players as the average team in the Big Ten? (Fun fact I'll continue to point out — we're a hell of a lot closer in talent level to the average Big Ten team today than we were 20 years ago.) Follow-up question: When has there ever been a worse defensive team in the history of the Big Ten prior to this year's Penn State team? (Spoiler: You're not going to find one, so don't bother looking.) — crftsy Mike Rhoades has a good history as a coach. Kids liked him and wanted to play for him. He relates well, has good people skills. He probably knows X's/O's as well as anyone when you have been around it that long. I am not skilled enough to judge, and I doubt anyone on this board is either. I feel a bit sorry for guys like Mike. The game has shifted very quickly. It's far more transactional and less relational, and he clearly is struggling to adapt. — SRATH I think Mike Rhoades could have won a few more games the last couple of years if he didn't just rely on a point guard going one-on-one in the last possession. I also believe that not many of the Penn State players (and I know Mike signed them) would sniff minutes on the top half of the Big Ten rosters. It's very depressing, but that's often been the case since I began watching the team in '78. I think the money and free movement of players makes it less enjoyable for me person- ally. — NavyBlue It is just ridiculous that we are talking about coaching being the main problem when the average player budget in the conference is $8.5 to 9 million and we're spending $3 maybe 4 million. — Artful Dodger 4 A P R I L 2 0 2 6 Senior running back Carson Hansen was part of the Iowa State migration, joining Penn State in January after leading the Cyclones with 952 rushing yards last season. PHOTO BY JEFF SPOUR/IOWA STATE ATHLETICS