Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546159
1 6 S E P T E M B E R 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 They Said It "We're not guaranteed our hopes and dreams in life; we're going to have to earn it every single day. We got the opportunity of a lifetime at one of the greatest football [programs] to continue to build forward, and we have the opportunity to pursue success with honor every single day." — Penn State head football coach Matt Campbell "One of the most effective ways to jump- start an offense is to hire a coach or coordina- tor who then brings along a QB they coached before. Caleb Williams (USC), Cam Ward (Washington State), Bo Nix (Oregon), John Mateer (Oklahoma), Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt) and Devon Dampier (Utah) are some of the more high-profile examples. With Becht fol- lowing Matt Campbell to Happy Valley, Penn State looks like the latest program that will benefit from coach-QB familiarity." — Kyle Bonagura, ESPN.com college foot- ball writer, citing Iowa State transfer Rocco Becht as Penn State's "X factor" in 2026 "I'm just a massive fan of Matt Campbell. I think that got lost in the hysteria of what went on at the end of last season. Penn State made an incredible hire. James Franklin did PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS a great job, but they couldn't quite get over the hump. I'm excited to see what Matt Campbell is going to do and his style. He's an old school guy, growing up in northeast Ohio. … He just has an attitude that I think is going to resonate very well in State College." — ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, citing Penn State as a potential surprise team this year "If you are of the belief that maybe there is someone who will make an Indiana-like unexpected run, certainly not a program that has been in the depths of despair for gen- erations as Indiana had been prior to Curt Cignetti's arrival, but one who might follow the blueprint that Indiana established for a very quick turnaround, I submit to you the Penn State Nittany 'Clones. Twenty-four Iowa State Cyclones followed Campbell from Ames to Happy Valley. That's more than Cignetti brought from James Madison." — ESPN's Rece Davis, discussing Penn State's 2026 outlook on the "College GameDay Podcast" "He's not going to call a game scared. He's going to go out there and call a game to win, and I think that's something you want in your offensive coordinator. I'm just excited to go out and play for him, play for my new team- mates, and go out there and make plays." — Rocco Becht on new Penn State offen- sive coordinator Taylor Mouser, with whom he worked previously at Iowa State "Our bean counters are in wait-and-see mode regarding the coaching change from James Franklin to Matt Campbell while Penn State is in the midst of a $700 million renova- tion to Beaver Stadium. This valuation is the same as CNBC's valuation for the bottom MLB team, the Miami Marlins." — Writer Matt Baker on Penn State's $1.4 billion estimated worth in The Athletic's ranking of the most valuable college football teams, which used "brand power, demographics and conference [affiliation]" to estimate teams' worth as if they were professional sports franchises; the Nittany Lions placed 10th overall "Plenty must go right for Rojas to live up to this high preseason ranking — he needs to return healthy, stay healthy and continue to build on his limited sample of 2025 tape. Time will tell, but Rojas has the athletic tools and competitive drive to be an early-round prospect when at full health." — Dane Brugler, NFL Draft analyst for The Athletic, citing Tony Rojas as the No. 4 linebacker prospect in next year's draft "When we were down, things just fell apart last year, and we didn't really have the leadership of one person who could just stick it all together. I think this year, a lot of us could do that. Big credit to Coach Campbell and all the guys that he brought over who are bringing that culture." — Redshirt junior linebacker Tony Rojas on the differences he's seen in PSU's program since last year