Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1545675
3 8 A U G U S T 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 / / / / / / / 2 0 2 6 F O O T B A L L P R E V I E W / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / PRESEASON ANALYSIS ★★★★★ National Title; ★★★★ Top 10; ★★★ Top 25 ★★ Too Unproven; ★ Major Concern STARTER ★★★ Assuming he's fully recovered from the sur- gical procedure he underwent in December to fix a problem with the labrum in his left (nonthrowing) shoulder, redshirt senior Rocco Becht figures to be one of the more interest- ing transfer acquisitions in the Big Ten this season. Two years ago, he led the Cyclones to the first 11-win season in program history, in- cluding a 42-41 victory over Miami in the Pop- Tarts Bowl, a game in which he completed 22 of 36 passes for 270 yards, with 3 touch- downs, no interceptions and another score on the ground. But he was slowed by injuries to both shoulders last year and saw his numbers (and the Cyclones' fortunes) decline. Now that he's joined Matt Campbell in State College, Becht has a chance to end his college career on a high note. He'll have to adapt to a new slate of opponents, but he's been re- united with Campbell, offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser and quarterbacks coach Jake Waters, raising hopes that he will be able to regain his 2024 form. EXPERIENCE ★★★ Becht is one of the most experienced play- ers in all of college football in 2026. He's played in 42 games and started 39, and he has the second-most career passing yards (9,274) of any quarterback in the country entering the 2026 season, trailing only TCU- to-Indiana transfer Josh Hoover (9,629). If Becht were the only player of note at this position group, you'd be seeing five stars in the little blue bar above. He's not, though. The Nittany Lions have four other scholarship quarterbacks on their roster, only one of whom has seen action in a Divi- sion I game. Which brings us to … DEPTH ★★ There's no way of overstating the degree to which Penn State's outlook for the com- ing season is predicated on Becht staying healthy. If he were to suffer a setback in his return from shoulder surgery, or if he were to get hurt during the season, his prospec- tive backups are almost entirely devoid of Division I playing experience. If he's healthy, redshirt freshman Alex Manske will most likely be the backup, but he missed spring practice with an undis- closed health problem, and his collegiate playing career consists of 30 snaps last year as a true freshman. Senior Connor Barry got plenty of reps this spring, but he spent the past three seasons playing at the Division III level. Kase Evans and Peyton Falzone are true freshmen, and the only other quarter- back on the roster is walk-on Jack Lambert, who has not seen game action in three sea- sons at PSU. OVERALL GRADE ★★★ All four of Penn State's scholarship quarter- backs from the 2025 season are gone. Drew Allar is now with the Pittsburgh Steelers, while Ethan Grunkemeyer, Jaxon Smolik and Bekkem Kritza entered the portal in Janu- ary, eventually resurfacing at Virginia Tech, Temple and Alabama A&M, respectively. It would have been nice to hold onto a high-upside signal-caller like Grunkemeyer, but the writing was on the wall when Becht entered the portal on Dec. 20, two weeks after Campbell was named head coach at Penn State. You can understand why the Lions' new head coach would want to entrust his of- fense to a familiar face in Year 1. Campbell has said he wants his quarterback to be an extension of the coaching staff, and Becht has worked extensively with PSU's new of- fensive brain trust. After spending the winter and early spring recovering from his shoulder surgery, Becht was healthy enough to take part in seven-on- seven work toward the end of practice and will be "ready to rock and roll" when the sea- son begins, Campbell assured. His consider- able experience figures to serve him well as he gets set to lead the Nittany Lions in 2026. BY THE NUMBERS 8th Alex Manske's spot in Rivals' ranking of the top quarterbacks in the 2025 recruit- ing cycle. Rivals listed the Algona High prospect as the nation's No. 55 overall recruit and No. 1 player in Iowa. 26 Rocco Becht's career victory total at Iowa State. The redshirt senior has more wins as a starter than any active FBS quarterback. 2,509 Snaps taken by Becht in his four years at Iowa State. That total ranks third among active FBS players this year, with only offensive linemen Noah Josey of Virginia (2,824) and Carter Smith of Indiana (2,628) having more. Due to injuries at the top of the depth chart, transfer Connor Barry took most of the snaps at quarterback during spring practice. MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS