Penn State Football Mailbag: Biggest Questions Entering the Final Week of Camp

The Nittany Lions still have concerns as the Sept. 5 opener against Marshall approaches.

Penn State Nittany Lions football head coach Matt Campbell during a practice session inside Holuba Hall. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Penn State has one big question as the 2026 season-opener approaches, according to head coach Matt Campbell: What really is this team? Though they've been training and working together for nearly eight months, the Nittany Lions still have an overload of variables to solve before hosting Marshall on Sept. 5 at Beaver Stadium. Which they might not even solve by then

"I think we’re going to keep learning about this football team, I hate to tell you, through the first part of the season," Campbell said after a recent practice in State College.

Yes, the Nittany Lions still have plenty to learn about themselves. Here's where to start.

Will Penn State's offense be as good as its pieces suggest?

Penn State Nittany Lions offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser answers questions during football media day in Holuba Hall. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

To hear the coaches tell it, Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht has never looked better, the tight end position is the nation's deepest and the running backs might need to split their carries four ways. So what do the Nittany Lions do with this surfeit of talent?

Offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser wants to run a tempo offense, with caveats, to capitalize on the athletic backs and huge line (the projected starting guards and tackles average 328.5 pounds). But he also wants to lean on the deep tight end room, assuming everyone is healthy, in the passing game.

Three backs (Carson Hansen, James Peoples ans Quinton Martin Jr.) can run. Becht can run. Receivers Brett Eskildsen and Zay Robinson have shown big-play capabilities in camp. Penn State's offense has a lot of pieces going for it.

Mouser's task is to build those parts into a whole, and some of the training camp results have been inconsistent. We've seen several skill-position players sidelined in camp (Campbell said there have been no serious injuries) and others fight through ups-and-downs.

Nothing out of the ordinary with any of that. However, Penn State's offense should be better prepared for the opener than its defense. Campbell imported much of it from Iowa State while blending retained talent in Martin, guard Cooper Cousins, tight end Andrew Rappleyea and receiver Koby Howard. The pieces are there, but they need to form a whole.

Will the Nittany Lions be 'nasty' up front?

Penn State Nittany Lions offensive line coach Ryan Clanton, center, watches a drill during practice in Holuba Hall. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Cousins, who will start at right guard, defined the offense's ethos this season as "dominant, nasty and accountable." And offensive line coach Ryan Clanton said he wants linemen who "want to run through somebody’s face.”

Again, Penn State's offensive line has the parts. Mouser called left guard Trevor Buhr the MVP of training camp, and right tackle Anthony Donkoh's return after missing spring drills has secured the right side.

But Penn State needs Malachi Goodman to meet his 5-star recruiting ranking at left tackle and center Brock Riker to take command of the transition from Texas State to the Big Ten. A lot of positive vibes are emanating from the offensive line room. But they did so as well last year, when the linemen hung a Joe Moore Award poster in their meeting room.

Will the new defensive line strategy work?

Penn State Nittany Lions defensive lineman Siale Taupaki competes in an exercise bike race during Lift for Life at Holuba Hall. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn repopulated the tackles position with four transfers who are 319 pounds are bigger. All four are in at least their third season of college football, with Siale Taupaki playing his eighth.

Ostensibly, this is a sound strategy. Set the new defensive foundation with big, experienced tackles who can occupy linemen, clog running lanes and free linebackers to make 12 tackles a game. Taupaki and Keanu Williams, both from UCLA, join Armstrong Nnodim (Oklahoma State) and Dallas Vakalahi (Utah) in resetting the position.

The job now is for Lynn and tackles coach Ikaika Malloe to convert said size and experience into a Big Ten interior that dominates offenses and helps force three-and-outs. It's perhaps the most important unknown trait of a defense with serious back-seven talent in linebacker Tony Rojas, cornerbacks Audavion Collins, Zion Tracy and Daryus Dixson and safeties Jeremiah Cooper and Marcus Neal Jr.

That's a group of playmakers who, if freed from second-level blockers, will generate stops and turnovers. Penn State's defensive success largely rests on whether its tackles are resistance forces inside.

Can the offense be explosive?

Penn State Nittany Lions wide receiver Brett Eskildsen (4) participates during a practice session inside Holuba Hall. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

With Hansen and tight end Ben Brahmer, Penn State's offense has two reliable move-the-sticks and red-zone options. Hansen averaged 5.1 yards per carry at Iowa State last year, losing just 21 yards on 187 attempts, and Brahmer led the Cyclones with six touchdown receptions.

Now, the Nittany Lions need to cultivate big plays. They struggled there last year, ranking 10th in the Big Ten in plays of 20+ yards (50). Iowa State wasn't much better, ranking 12th in the Big 12 with 53.

Campbell specifically targeted Peoples from Ohio State as a big-play companion to Hansen. Eskildsen and Robinson have made downfield receptions in camp, and Eskildsen is the team's fastest offensive player.

Becht is the wild card here. He doesn't have the Big Ten's (or even Penn State's) biggest arm but has been more accurate with better footwork in this camp than in the past, his coaches say. He's also a fifth-year senior embedded in Mouser's offense with more nothing-to-lose tendencies.

Penn State needs more from Becht than sensible game management to make a playoff run. That means lifting the offense's ability to deliver explosive plays.

Sign up to our free Penn State Nittany Lions newsletter and follow us on social media.