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Penn State Football Week in Review: Penn State's Very Viral Week

Penn State had quite the week for social media impressions.
Mark Wogenrich|
A view of the Nittany Lion weathervane and scoreboard from the new bleachers on the west side of Penn State's Beaver Stadium.
A view of the Nittany Lion weathervane and scoreboard from the new bleachers on the west side of Penn State's Beaver Stadium. | Mark Wogenrich | Penn State on SI

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Penn State had itself a week on the viral cicruit, with some football fans questioning whether they'll renew season tickets to its quarterback becoming an unintended proxy in the college football debate. And then there was...

The Nittany Lions are less than two weeks from their 2026 opener against Marshall at Beaver Stadium. Let's get there in one piece together. But if you missed any of the mid-August news, we have the recap in our Penn State football week in review.

Pricing those 2027 season football tickets

A view from the new upper deck bleacher seats on the west side of Penn State's Beaver Stadium.
A view from the new upper deck bleacher seats on the west side of Penn State's Beaver Stadium. | Mark Wogenrich | Penn State on SI

Penn State released pricing options for 2027 football season tickets, prompting sticker shock from a lot of fans. While most seat locations will see increases in the $100 range, some others will double or even triple.

The priciest seat locations will be in Beaver Stadium's new lower bowl, which will be replaced before the 2027 season. Some of those prime locations will be converted to seats in the Schuyler Club, one of two club options Beaver Stadium will offer in its new West side. Season tickets to the Schuyler Club will cost $4,900 before a one-time, $10,000 capital donation.

As one fan told Rich Scarcella of the Reading Eagle, "After almost 40 years as a season-ticket holder, they have priced me out. I'm done. We now know who is paying for the renovation."

Not everyone's season-ticket prices will go up. In fact, five sections on the stadium's East side (which is not a major part of the renovation) will see lower prices. Darian Somers, who publishes the Stuff Somers Says site, built a tool that shows how much ticket prices in each section will change.

Penn State also rolled out a seating chart with pricing for every section, which it said includes contributions and NIL fees.

Penn State's quarterback unexpectedly goes viral

Mike Poorman of Statecollege.com asked Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht a fairly innocuous question last week: What does your class schedule look like this semester? Becht's (also fairly innocuous) answer unfairly put him in the middle of college sports' long-time debate about players going to class.

College football social media got hung up on Becht saying he's taking "one class" online this fall. "I guess it’s the props of being graduated and being in a fifth year," he told Poorman. The video has generated more than 3 million views and plenty of opinions, including one from Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy.

“Taking one online class is far from being a full-time student," Cassidy wrote in a post on X. "My amendment to the Protect College Sports Act would address this. The “student” in student-athlete should still matter so they are set up for success, wherever they go next.”

Which prompted Anthony Becht, Rocco's father and head coach of the UFL's Orlando Storm, to respond.

To be clear, as Becht also said, he received his bachelor's from Iowa State and is in a graduate program at Penn State in organizational development and change. He is scheduled to complete a graduate certificate at Penn State.

Since he is in his final semester of eligiblity, Becht has complied with NCAA rules regarding credit hours. This really should be a non-story.

Still waiting on the 'White Out'

The biggest story of the week didn't involve Penn State football (thanlfully) but certainly got folded into a lot of social media jokes about the program. Thirteen current and former Penn State students were charged with operating a “coordinated and highly-profitable drug-trafficking crew,” according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General.

You've seen the memes and nicknames, and the media coverage has ranged from NPR to the BBC to Inside Higher Ed to Barstool Sports. So yeah, maybe Penn State has paused announcing the date for the annual White Out.

More good Penn State reads

If you read one Penn State football story this week, make it this one. Quarterback Alex Manske is practicing at full strength five months after undergoing heart surgery. Head coach Matt Campbell called it a "miracle."

Manske's return reshaped Penn State's quarterbacks room, which looks very different than it did in the spring.

We know Penn State underwent a lot of change this offseason. Will Horstman recaps just how much.

What's the biggest question facing Penn State as Week 1 approaches? It's that there are still plenty of unknowns.

The Nittany Lions have several candidates for college football's comeback player of the year.

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is the editor and publisher of Penn State on SI, the site for Nittany Lions sports on the Sports Illustrated network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs, three Rose Bowls and one College Football Playoff appearance.

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