Penn State Week 6 Stock Up, Stock Down Report: QB Rises, Coach Falls
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Penn State fell short once again on Saturday, losing to USC 31-23 in the annual White Out game. The Nittany Lions led once, after a Ryan Barker field goal on their first drive of the second half, but that was short-lived. Still, the game at least was more entertaining to watch than the Week 5 meltdown against Northwestern.
We evaluated whose stock is up, and whose is down after a week with a lot to unpack, starting with the starting quarterback who finally found his footing.
Stock Up: Quarterback Rocco Becht
Becht's first two Big Ten performances as a Nittany Lion were duds. He went 38-for-70 (54.3 percent), passing for 357 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions against Wisconsin and Northwestern. But Becht seemingly put that behind him Saturday, firing out the gate against a struggling USC defense.
Becht threw for 175 yards and a touchdown in the first half, completing 80 percent of his passes. He also finally found his deep ball, going 3-of-3 on passes of 15+ yards, including strikes of 37 and 47 yards.
However, Becht couldn't carry that momentum to the second half. He led Penn State to 17 first-half points, but the Nittany Lions scored just two field goals in the second. Becht finished 21-for-32 for 289 passing yards and one touchdown.
The quarterback took a step in the right direction, even though it wasn't enough for the Nittany Lions to end their losing streak. It's still a positive as the Nittany Lions head to Michigan this Saturday.
Stock Up: Receivers Chase Sowell and Brett Eskildsen (until the end)
In Week 6, Sowell and Eskildsen finally both played well in the same game. Sowell caught four passes (all in the first half) for 95 yards, and Eskildsen totaled four receptions for 70 yards.
Saturday marked the third straight week Sowell posted at least 65 receiving yards, doing so this time with explosive plays. The redshirt senior caught passes of 47 and 37 yards, both of which set up touchdowns. His emergence downfield gave Penn State its first explosive plays since star wide receiver Koby Howard went down with an injury after Week 3.
Eskildsen made two key third-down catches, and three of his receptions resulted in first downs. However, Eskildsen also made the game's only turnover on a 25-yard reception in the fourth quarter as Penn State attempted to tie the game. It was a blemish, but Penn State doesn't get in that situation without Eskildsen.
Stock Down: Head coach Matt Campbell
Penn State coach Matt Campbell called the White Out "one of the most inpressive environments I've been able to coach in."
"My disappointment is, right now we can't give them the result they deserve." pic.twitter.com/ygZTPrVbiW
– Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) October 11, 2026
The last three weeks really couldn't have gone worse for Campbell, whose team blew a 17-point lead at home to Wisconsin, got decimated by Northwestern and lost the White Out game in front of a record crowd of 114,419.
Worse, Campbell made some questionable decisions against USC that factored into the result. The head coach made two late offensive substitutions Saturday – one in the first half, one in the second – that forced him to burn two timeouts to avoid delay-of-game penalties.
As a result, Penn State went into a two-minute drill at the end of the first half with one timeout. It had none left for the final offensive possession, notably after Campbell burned his last when the Trojans left their offense (and punter) on the field on fourth-and-4 at their own 13-yard line with 4:26 left.
NBC's cameras caught USC coach Lincoln Riley smiling at the timeout, and rightly so. Riley outcoached Campbell, which was not a great look six games into Campbell's tenure.
Stock Down: Safety Marcus Neal Jr.
Neal, who averaged 33.8 snaps in the first five games, did not play at all defensively against USC. Campbell's reasoning was pass coverage. He said Penn State prioritized its leading coverage defenders against USC, and that isn't Neal's strength.
"Marcus was a critical piece to our success," Campbell said, "and obviously tonight, as the game kind of got into a spread game and it's playing in space, it was a situation where we went with probably more coverage than we did from a tackle standpoint at the safety position."
Neal has just 19 tackles (none for loss) at the midway point of the regular season. He had 77 tackles (a team-high 11 for loss) at Iowa State last season. The drastic difference is hard to explain.
Neal, named third-team All Big 12 last year, forced two fumbles (recovering one) against Buffalo. He entered the season ranked 11th among active FBS defensive backs with 12 career tackles for loss. But that part of his game has been non-existent this year.
The junior was one of Penn State's highest-regarded transfer portal acquisitions but, like several other Iowa State transfers, hasn't produced at the Big Ten level. Maybe he'll get a rebound game against Michigan's rushing offense, which ranks 13th in the conference.
Stock Down: Penn State's secondary
Penn State entered Week 6 ranked third nationally in passing defense (119.6 yards per game), but USC didn't care. The Trojans threw the ball eight times on their first 11 plays of the game and scored a touchdown on their opening series.
It was the right move. Quarterback Jayden Maiava walked down the field on the first drive and picked apart the Nittany Lions' secondary, starting 5-of-5 for 62 yards.
He finished 21-for-33 for 301 yards, three touchdowns and no turnovers. Maiava did whatever he wanted against Penn State's defensive backfield, ranked second nationally heading into the White Out game by Pro Football Focus. He also beat eight-man coverages often on third down.
USC really beat Penn State from the slot position. The typical starting slot cornerback is Zion Tracy, but he replaced Neal at safety. Thus, the Trojans often successfully attacked freshman slot cornerback Josiah Zayas.
Up next
Penn State visits Michigan at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday at Michigan Stadium. The teams are a combined 0-5 in Big Ten play and are facing each other winless in the conference for the first time.
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Today's best reads
- USC Spoils Penn State's White Out With 31-23 Victory
- At Penn State, Matt Campbell Continues to Confront Talent Gap in Loss to USC
- Penn State Football Report Card After USC's Offense Tunes Up the Nittany Lions
- What We Learned About What Went Wrong in Penn State's Loss to USC
- 5 Key Takeaways From Penn State Coach Matt Campbell's USC Press Conference
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/pennstate as Penn State Week 6 Stock Up, Stock Down Report: QB Rises, Coach Falls.
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