The Good, Bad and Very Ugly of Penn State's Start to the Big Ten Season

The Nittany Lions are 0-2 and have been outscored 51-16 in their last six quarters of conference play.

Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Rocco Becht (3) throws the ball against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first half at New Ryan Field. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Penn State is trending downward ahead of its White Out game against USC on Oct 10. The Nittany Lions are still looking for a power-conference win this season after a 34-13 loss to Northwestern on Friday night.

Head coach Matt Campbell is 3-2 and 0-2 in Big Ten play through his first season at Penn State. Paired with last week’s collapse to Wisconsin, the Nittany Lions have played uninspiring football over their past six quarters, getting outscored 51-16.

Even though the past two games haven’t gone Penn State’s way, there could still be some reason for optimism. Here’s the good, bad and ugly of Penn State heading into next week’s White Out.

Good: The schedule allows for a bounceback

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Matt Campbell looks on from the sideline during the fourth quarter vs. the Wisconsin Badgers at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With two early losses in the Big Ten schedule, the preseason expectation of Penn State’s "jackpot schedule" leading to a College Football Playoff berth is out of the picture, barring an improbable run. But that doesn’t mean the Nittany Lions can’t have an overall successful year given the circumstances.

Penn State currently has only one ranked opponent on the schedule, which are the 18th-ranked Trojans next Saturday. That’s also pending the result of USC’s Week 5 game against Washington.

The Nittany Lions don’t play No. 5 Ohio State, No. 6 Indiana, No. 14 Iowa, No. 15 Oregon or No. 23 UCLA for the rest of the regular season. They might’ve lost to two unranked teams to begin their conference slate, but they’ll at least have chances to rebound against more unranked teams instead of the Big Ten’s top teams.

With that schedule, there is still a path to a record around 8-4, which would represent a recovery and fair start to the Campbell era. Growing pains should’ve been expected when Penn State brought in a new coach, so this season might not be a lost cause just yet.

Good: Koby Howard might return soon

Penn State Nittany Lions wide receiver Koby Howard (6) runs for a touchdown against the Buffalo Bulls at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Penn State’s offense has looked worse in Big Ten play than in its non-conference schedule. Yes, a big part of that is the jump in competition, but it’s also because star receiver Koby Howard has missed the Wisconsin and Northwestern games.

There might be some good news regarding Howard’s availability. The receiver teased a return for the Michigan game on Oct. 17 through a social media post. If he can make that schedule, Howard would miss just one more game.

When he was on the field, Howard averaged 28.7 yards per catch, which still leads the Big Ten. He’s a consistent, big-play threat with 12 catches for 344 yards and two touchdowns along with a rushing touchdown.

The Nittany Lions’ offense has looked rough without Howard. Even though he’ll likely be out for at least one more game, Howard could help Penn State turn this season around before it’s too late. But he needs to make that Michigan timeline.

Bad: Rocco Becht isn’t playing well against Big Ten defenses

Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Rocco Becht (3) throws the ball against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first half at New Ryan Field. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Quarterback Rocco Becht has been a liability in Big Ten play so far. He played inconsistently and completed 54.3 percent of his passes for 357 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions over the two conference games.

His performance against Northwestern even prompted Campbell to be asked whether he considered replacing Becht with backup Alex Manske. Campbell said he didn’t.

“I think Rocco's proven that he can work through a football game where it's not perfect and [has] the ability to adjust within the football game,” Campbell said. “Rocco's worked through hard before and he's got the great ability to do it. The fact of the matter is, Rocco's a winner. ... His leadership and his ability to navigate the rough waters right now will be, I think, a testament to him.” 

Becht was off again on the big-play attempts against Northwestern. In the third quarter, he overthrew a deep shot to receiver Zay Robinson, who likely would’ve scored a touchdown with a better pass. Becht keeps having passes batted down at the line of scrimmage, one of which was intercepted. Two of Becht’s three interceptions resulted from tipped passes.

With how he played against Wisconsin and Northwestern, it’s difficult to keep trusting Becht. He’s the most experienced quarterback in college football, but his play doesn’t look like that.  

Bad: Run game still has no identity

“I wish I had the magic answer right now, to be quite honest with you,” Penn State coach Matt Campbell said after the Nittany Lions’ 34-13 loss to Northwestern. pic.twitter.com/mILDo8JUhJ

— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) October 3, 2026

Besides a 304-yard day against Buffalo, Penn State’s run game hasn’t had answers to the questions surrounding the offense this season. It’s a negative trend that continued in the Northwestern game.

The Nittany Lions didn’t have a player gain at least 20 rushing yards against the Wildcats. Starting back James Peoples, who was productive in the Wisconsin game and received praise from Campbell afterward, had eight carries for 13 yards.

Campbell said the Nittany Lions lacked physicality on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Northwestern’s run defense was the second-worst in the Big Ten before Friday’s game, allowing 199.3 rushing yards per game. Indiana ran for 271 yards on Northwestern a week earlier; Penn State ran for 48. If Penn State couldn’t impose itself against the Wildcats’ run defense, what gets better?

Ugly: Matt Campbell era is off to a poor start

I don’t think there’s any doubt Pat Kraft’s career is on the line if this doesn’t work.

Firing Franklin and leading a messy search that landed here was like going all-in with a pair of 9s. If it fails there is one person who will be very easy to blame. https://t.co/QkuOg2PK6T

— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) October 3, 2026

It’s still too early to say anything definitive about Campbell’s long-term success or failure at Penn State. For reference, James Franklin’s first Big Ten loss was a 29-6 disaster at home against Northwestern in 2014. 

But the fact is, the start of the Campbell era hasn’t been good. It’s to the point that athletic director Pat Kraft is getting criticism on social media, including a post from Dan Wolken of Yahoo Sports.

Last week, Penn State blew a 17-0 lead to Wisconsin with Campbell saying he coached like he didn’t want to “screw it up” afterward. This week, the Nittany Lions weren’t prepared physically enough to keep up with Northwestern, and those conservative tendencies showed again.

It’s merely Year 1 for Campbell, who has yet to prove he’s the right hire for Penn State. Which is why Kraft is receiving blame. Campbell and the Nittany Lions will have to improve before concerns surrounding the program go away.

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