A new Penn State football star quarterback? Get to know Rocco Becht
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Penn State football has landed its hopeful starting quarterback for the 2026 season.
Rocco Becht made a long-expected transfer portal move official on Sunday, Jan. 4: He will transfer from Iowa State to Penn State, following his former head coach Matt Campbell and much of his familiar Cyclones staff.
Becht (6-foot-1, 210 pounds) started for three seasons under Campbell at Iowa State and developed into one of the most productive passers in the country. He now expects to take the place of redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer, who entered the transfer portal after leading the Nittany Lions to a Pinstripe Bowl victory over Clemson.
Becht will join fellow Cyclones teammate and quarterback Alex Manske at PSU, who also announced his transfer on Jan. 4. Manske, a true freshman in 2025, was one of Iowa State’s most highly-rated recruits in recent memory — the No. 8 QB in his recruiting class and the nation’s No. 55 prospect, overall, according to On.3.
Becht’s commitment stabilizes a once-shallow PSU quarterback room. The Lions have seemingly lost Grunkemeyer, who started the past seven games, and backups Jaxon Smolik and Bekken Kritza, to the transfer portal. Senior Drew Allar is headed to the NFL.
Becht will be the only scholarship Penn State quarterback with meaningful college experience, joining Manske (played sparingly in three games last fall) and incoming freshmen Peyton Falzone and Kase Evans.
Becht and Manske will be reunited with Campbell, former Iowa State offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser, quarterbacks coach Jake Waters and the ISU training staff in State College.
Becht was a revelation in Ames during his first two seasons as a starter in 2023-24. He threw for more than 3,100 yards each season and completed 63 percent of his passes as a redshirt freshman. He combined to throw 48 touchdowns and just 17 interceptions those two seasons.
He has led the Cyclones to a 26-12 record as a starter. That includes Iowa State’s program-best, 11-win season in 2024 in which Becht threw for 3,505 yards and 25 touchdowns — and drove the Cyclones to four, fourth-quarter comebacks. He added eight rushing scores that year.
His 2025 season was marred by an injury to his non-throwing shoulder and his production dipped a bit during ISU’s 8-4 finish.
Becht is one of 11 Penn State transfer pickups — all from Iowa State — during the first three days of the transfer cycle. That helps to offset the more than 30 scholarship players the Lions may lose in the portal during the Jan. 2-16 period.
Becht was a 4-star prospect by Rivals out of Wiregrass Ranch High, just north of Tampa, Florida.
His father, Anthony Becht, was a first-round NFL Draft pick tight end of the New York Jets in 2000. He played a dozen years for New York, Tampa Bay, St. Louis, Arizona and Kansas City.
Anthony Becht played college football at West Virginia and grew up in the Philadelphia area.
Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht transfers to Penn State football
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