30 Random Thoughts About What The Heck Is Happening At Penn State

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1. Last Tuesday after the Wisconsin game, I said how I love writing for BSD but that Random Thoughts after a tough loss is brutal.

2. Well, here we are again.

3. I’m not going to really talk about the game though. It was horrible. Every part of it. Completely unenjoyable. Penn State got pantsed in all fashions of the game. Offense, defense, special teams, position coaches, coordinators, head coach, everyone, just terrible.

4. Rocco Becht is better than what he showed the last two games, and I think that’s what is most frustrating. He’s the highest paid player on the team, has a ton of experience in this offense, and was very productive at Iowa State. I was not expecting him to be a Heisman candidate or anything, but to be a *total* negative in Big Ten games — I did not foresee that at all.

5. As a reminder, LSU made a run at Rocco. He was a totally respected quarterback who if he didn’t go to Penn State, would have gotten a starting gig at another good Big Ten or SEC program.

6. I think the spot I most overrated about this Penn State team was defensive tackle. I won’t lie, I got pulled into the “300-plus-pound grown men” as something that would give them a high floor. Maybe there wasn’t an all-conference player among them, but some real depth of big heavies that would at least be solid against the run. But, hand up, that was wrong. It appears Penn State just went big for going big’s sake.

7. I mentioned this on Twitter, but I’ve seen a lot of blaming the former Iowa State players. And they certainly have earned their share of the blame. But this staff took like 20 Iowa State players. A solid half of the roster are Penn State players from 2025, which as it turns out, a 7-6 team that was losing the majority of its best players due to eligibility just wasn’t a very good base.

8. Grunk for Rocco is the big one because of how important a quarterback is. Grunk, given the way he’s playing, almost certainly wins Penn State the Wisconsin game. Northwestern game, probably not, given how inept the defense looked.

9. Beyond Grunk, I think there are only three other players who were meaningfully big losses for this season: Xavier Gilliam, Luke Reynolds, and Dejuan Lane. Those are three NFL players, likely Day 1 or Day 2 picks.

10. Gilliam in particular looks like a potential first-team All-SEC player. He has 4 sacks and 8.5 TFLs through 5 games. Massive loss then and somehow an even bigger one now.

11. Outside of those guys though, I don’t think this team’s fortune is much different. Amare Campbell is an upgrade over Kooper Ebel, sure, but I don’t think Amare is swinging games. Jaylen Harvey, Cortez Harris, and Mylachi Williams have been productive in the ACC and would at least help defensive end depth; though not to be a Big Ten snob, but I think there’s a difference in the trenches between the SEC/B1G and the Big 12/ACC (minus Miami).

12. I guess my point is I really liked Jaylen Harvey. He was one of the 10 players I wanted Penn State to keep the most. But he’s a solid starting defensive end for what’s going to be a 5-7 UNC team. I think if we’re talking about him and shaking our fist at the sky going “HOW COULD WE HAVE LET JAYLEN HARVEY GO!”, that shows the type of talent that was slated to come back to Penn State in 2026.

13. I don’t mention this to crap on last year’s team, but I feel like there’s this belief that Penn State let a contending team walk to bring in the Iowa State all-stars and I think that ignores two things:

14. One, the context of what the 2025 team ended up being. That is, a 7-6 team who was going to replace ~14 starters and didn’t have a Top 10 2018, 2019, or 2022 recruiting class to fill in the cracks.

15. Two, most of us were pretty happy with Matt Campbell’s retention efforts. The five I wanted to keep the most were Rappleyea, Donkoh, Gilliam, Kemajou, and Cousins. That’s 4 of 5. After that, it was Dixon, Joseph, Harvey, Howard, and Boyer. That’s 3 of 5. I added in Granville afterward because I forgot about him, which in total makes it 8 of 11.

16. Again, the Grunk one is potentially the big one. I don’t think I even really considered him for that list on account I knew Rocco was (likely) coming and Grunk was going to go somewhere to start. But even that, man, I’m not sure how many coaches in the country would do it differently from Matt Campbell. Bring your fourth-year-starter who knows your offense or go with someone who is still pretty unknown all things considered?

17. To be clear, I am not necessarily trying to defend Matt Campbell. You look at someone like Bob Chesney and UCLA, and it’s clear that it’s possible to hit the ground running in year one without “ideal” circumstances. I am just trying to make sense of how this team looks so bad because it’s been a long time since Penn State got waxed like that against a non-top 15 team.

18. Temple 2015 obviously sticks out, though the Nittany Lions had the lead at the half. Indiana 2013 is a sneaky one I don’t think people remember, but the Hoosiers dropped nearly 500 yards en route to a 44-24 victory. I believe that was the first time Indiana beat Penn State too. But neither of those was the onslaught that Friday night was.

19. I don’t know how much can be salvaged from this season? I mentioned this on the BSD YouTube Show (please subscribe here) but 7-5 feels like the absolute ceiling? Am I being too much of a gloomer when I say that?

20. I think USC was already Penn State’s toughest matchup because the defense was built on size and strength, not speed and I worry about these safeties in pass coverage against an Air Raid attack. So that’s one loss. Michigan is going through their own trouble, but their defense is still probably top 5 in the conference. Maybe you can split Washington and Minnesota and then go 3-0 against Purdue, Maryland, and Rutgers? But I don’t know, after these last two games it feels like a stretch.

21. What does all this mean for Matt Campbell? Well, I think getting off to a good start was paramount in a lot of ways. Proof of concept is a big selling point for recruits, fans, and especially boosters. I thought that going 10-2 or even 9-3 with a big White Out win over USC or a win at Michigan (when I thought they were good) would help get that extra buy-in from the Big Money to catapult this program from the Wisconsin/Nebraska tier back to the Indiana/Michigan tier.

22. Unless the shocker of all shockers happens, I don’t see this Penn State team running the table or even going 6-1. So proof of concept, gone.

23. I don’t think that’s a death knell for Matt Campbell, but I think there’s going to need to be some hard conversations with himself about how to achieve success here. That’s conversations about his coaching staff, the roster he builds, and how he advocates for resources/funding.

24. The outgoing Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard said Matt Campbell will be successful at Penn State if people here (I’m paraphrasing): “Let Matt Campbell be Matt Campbell.” While I appreciate the sentiment, this is not Iowa State and the Big 12. Things are going to have to be done differently to reach the levels Penn State wants to reach.

25. For the record, the same thing can be said for Penn State the institution too, folks. From the Athletic Department to the Big Money supporting the program, what can *we* do differently? Did we put Matt Campbell in the best situation to succeed this season? If not, how can we do it for next season? Proof of concept would have been great, but even without it, rosters and fortunes can change completely in an offseason.

26. Luke Fickell was 15-18 at Wisconsin and 2-5 last year when the Wisconsin AD announced that Fickell would be back and that there would be increased funding for the program. Now, Wisconsin sits 4-1 and there *appears* to be some hope. ESPN FPI has them projected to finish 8-4, which would be only the second time this decade that the Badgers got to 8 wins.

27. I realize that’s not the sexiest story to share — wow, 8 wins! — but that’s where the Wisconsin program is right now after going 7-6, 5-7, and 4-8. Getting to 8 wins would be tangible progress.

28. I would hope that Penn State does not get to the point where we need to see three years of losing to change things. I hope we see this season, are embarrassed and enraged, and do everything in our power to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

29. I would love nothing more than to not be discussing the “State of the Program” the week of the White Out. This week should have been getting fired up about an undefeated Penn State team trying to get a ranked win against a blue blood opponent. And man, I hope that ranked win still happens. I’ll be there, in white, hoping we can get this thing back on track.

30. I’ll be in the IM Fields somewhere. If you see me, come say hi. I’ll give you a beer (if you are over 21).

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