All Attention Turns to Penn State's Matt Campbell Amid Questions

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As we look at what Penn State wasn't able to do on Saturday, a lot of the blame is going to be put on first-year head coach Matt Campbell. 

After Campbell came over from a below-average Iowa State program that has shown some promise over the past couple of years but frankly just wasn't great, it was fair to suggest that firing James Franklin for him wasn't exactly the best idea. 

At the end of the day, I'm in the boat that Penn State had to move on from Franklin, but it was also important that the fan base recognized that finding somebody who did what he did at Penn State wasn't a guarantee. Franklin got frustrating at the end, but this was still a guy who was going to win nine to 10-plus games each season, and whether that's impressive to some fans or not, there was something to be said about that. 

He took over Penn State at a very dark time, too, and we should recognize that.

As we look back at the past 24 months, all of these problems have really started to be brought to light. That's exactly what one reporter recently spoke about, adding that Penn State fans now have to wait and see to determine whether Campbell is that guy or not.

“Matt Campbell will have to prove that he isn’t just another more-with-less coach who can’t get it done at the highest level with a program that has all the advantages. For example — sorry to bring you up again, Florida fans — Dan Mullen. Saturday’s stunning collapse at home to Wisconsin was not a great sight in Campbell’s first month as coach…

“So, it’s going well. Remember, Franklin had this team in a CFP semifinal, missing the championship game by a field goal, 20 months ago. But now it’s on Campbell, who overachieved at Iowa State, to prove he can achieve at Penn State. Nittany Lions fans will just have to wait and see if he can approach that high bar,” The Athletic wrote.

I'm really interested to see how this Penn State team bounces back. 

Not that Penn State has been terrible this season, but to say that it's been good would be unfair. As I have said throughout the week, beating Marshall, Temple, and Buffalo really isn't that impressive. Penn State didn't exactly star in any of those games, either, so Campbell has a job now to find a way to get his guys to play the type of football that everybody was expecting the Nittany Lions to play when the season started.

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