Penn State notes: Rocco Becht shoulders blame for loss to Wisconsin

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STATE COLLEGE – Rocco Becht mostly had been brilliant in Penn State’s three wins over non-conference opponents.

He had the nation’s fourth-highest pass efficiency rating and did not have a turnover.

Becht, though, looked like a very different quarterback in a 24-20 loss to Wisconsin Saturday night at Beaver Stadium.

He completed 12-of-29 passes for a meager 114 yards and his first interception of the season. He twice missed wide receiver Brett Eskildsen in the fourth quarter for what would have been long gains.

“Not great,” Becht said when asked to evaluate his performance. “I’ve got to be better for the offense. I’ve got to be better for this team. I can’t put us in scenarios where our backs are backed up and we’ve got to have a big play.

“I didn’t do my part today, so I have to do better.”

Becht’s pass protection was spotty, but he also wasn’t accurate. He and the entire offense clearly missed leading receiver Koby Howard, who’s out for an extended period of time with an unspecified injury.

Chase Sowell had six receptions for 70 yards and was the only Penn State wide receiver with at least one catch. Becht threw to Eskildsen six times and didn’t complete a pass to him.

“I put that on me,” Becht said. “I have to be able to spread the ball around and be able to make the defense guess.”

Penn State coach Matt Campbell was asked about Becht’s performance.

“I thought Rocco made some tremendous plays,” Campbell said. “I thought he kept us in the football game with some scrambles and throws. I think some of our issues were probably more so with some protection things. I really thought Rocco played a really good game for the most part.”

Backfield rotation: James Peoples and three other running backs received carries in the first quarter for Penn State before Peoples wound up with the most action.

Peoples said it was part of the plan laid out before the game by running backs coach Savon Huggins.

“That was a game-time decision by him that all the guys were going to play,” Peoples said, “get their chance and opportunity. All of us went out there and gave our best shot.”

Peoples rushed 14 times for 67 yards and was clearly the Lions’ best back. Quinton Martin ran six times for 14 yards, Carson Hansen four times for 11 yards and Cam Wallace two for 4 yards.

“I thought James ran the ball really well,” Campbell said. “I thought he made some really key plays in some key situations. I thought the running game and the offense was choppy.”

Fourth-down calls: Campbell twice decided not to go for it on fourth-and-1, the first time in the first half and the second in the second half.

Penn State led Wisconsin 17-7 late in the second quarter and had fourth-and-1 from its 33. Campbell and Badgers coach Luke Fickell decided to let the clock run out and go to halftime.

“I felt like we were playing such good defense there, I didn’t want to put our defense at risk,” Campbell said. “That will eat at me. They had two timeouts and I didn’t want to give them the ball back.

“When the series started negatively (with a penalty), I thought the biggest thing for us was to get this thing to halftime and make corrections. We had a really significant lead.”

The Lions led 20-10 and faced a fourth-and-1 from their 38 when the fourth quarter began. Campbell sent the offense on the field, took a timeout and then decided to punt.

“We definitely were going for it,” Becht said. “And I think he (Campbell) saw the defensive line all crunched up in there. That’s his decision and we live with it. Our defense was playing well and props to those guys for continuing to go out there and make plays and have our backs.”

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