Why a Division III Quarterback Will Play a Key Role for Penn State

The Nittany Lions needed an experienced quarterback willing to be a backup. Matt Campbell found one in Division III All-American Connor Barry.

Penn State Nittany Lions football coach Matt Campbell speaks at a press conference at Beaver Stadium. | Mark Wogenrich/Penn State on SI

Penn State had its starting quarterback for 2026 soon after Matt Campbell took the job in December. Rocco Becht, Campbell's three-year starter at Iowa State, was a natural fit for Penn State's new offense.

However, Penn State needed experience at a quarterbacks position with just one player who has thrown more than five passes. So Campbell and his staff scoured the transfer portal in search of an experienced quarterback willing to be a backup. They found their guy at Division III Christopher Newport University in Virginia.

Connor Barry set multiple Christopher Newport records last season, when he completed 67 percent of his passes and was named a second-team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association.

Barry led Christopher Newport to a 10-0 record, its first undefeated season, and was named the New Jersey Athletic Conference offensive player of the year. He also was the school's first semifinalist for the Gagliardi Trophy, given annually to the top Division III football player in the country.

More important, Barry was a senior with a game-tested arm and a willingness to play a new role at Penn State. That's exactly who the program sought, Penn State General Manager Derek Hoodjer said.

"When we built out the quarterback room, obviously we felt really confident in Rocco, felt really confident in Alex [Manske] and yet needed to provide competition, needed to provide another arm and needed to provide somebody to stabilize with a veteran presence," Hoodjer said. "... [Barry] was a great fit with his family, great fit with his personality and a great fit for what he was looking for."

Four of the best plays from the 2025 season ⚓️#mantheship | #cnufootball | #d3fb pic.twitter.com/HrHG8NUs6y

— CNU Football (@cnu_football) January 1, 2026

Hoodjer estimated that Penn State evaluated between 100-125 players in the portal, including multiple quarterbacks for this specific role. Position coach Jake Waters identified Barry as a tough, accurate passer who won games and threw few picks. Barry threw for 2,866 yards last season and finished with a touchdown/interception ratio of 35/6.

"He's been through the ups and downs of college and knows what it takes to be a college quarterback," Waters said. "He won a lot of games, threw for a lot of yards, and was a competitor. ... And I think that's extremely valuable when you're trying to round out a quarterback room that knows that you're one, two, three plays away."

Offensive Player of the Year ⚓️

Congratulations to our field general, Connor Barry ⚓️#mantheship | #cnufootball | #d3fb pic.twitter.com/I2oB4qzjaR

— CNU Football (@cnu_football) November 24, 2025

Barry was a late addition to Penn State's quarterback room, punctuating what Hoodjer called a "really chaotic" portal period. Penn State brought in 55 new players, including 40 from the transfer portal. Twenty-four of them followed Campbell from Iowa State.

Barry began his career at Appalachian State in 2022 before transferring to Christopher Newport in 2023. He spent three years with the Captains, making 22 starts and throwing for 5,561 yards and 55 touchdowns.

Barry averaged 260 yards passing per game last season and threw for a career-high 434 against Rowan. He joined a room that includes a redshirt freshman in Manske and two true freshmen in Kase Evans and Peyton Falzone.

"I think recruiting a quarterback in the portal to come in and not be the starter can be difficult," Hoodjer said. "But certainly those conversations were had, and we're really excited that Connor Barry chose to come and join us and compete in that room. ... We believe that he can be certainly a very valuable player in that room."

"We're really fired up that he's here," Hoodjer added. "It allows us to have a more complete [quarterbacks] room and allows him to go in there and compete and spend his senior year at Penn State, I think it's something he was really fired up to do, and we're fired up to have him."

What happens next for Penn State? Stay on top of all the Nittany Lions news by subscribing to the Penn State on SI Daily Digest. The newsletter is your free daily window into Penn State sports.