Penn State's Matt Campbell Gets Reality Check for Boneheaded Decision

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There was only so much Matt Campbell could do when Penn State waited to hire him on Dec. 5. 

At that point, James Franklin had been employed by Virginia Tech for more than two weeks. He spent that time recruiting players that Penn State had shown interest in.

The Nittany Lions got absolutely clobbered in recruiting for the 2026 season thanks to the delay in hiring a head coach (despite Franklin being one of the first coaches canned last season).

Campbell did what seemed to be a sensible option at the time. He brought over 24 transfers from Iowa State to fill roster positions at PSU. Those former Big 12 players would act as duct tape to get Penn State through his first season in State College. 

With a generous schedule that excluded Indiana, Ohio State, and Oregon, maybe Penn State would have enough talent to slog through its Big Ten Schedule. PSU did good enough against non-Power 4 teams to start the fall, going 3-0 before a home game against Wisconsin.

Blink. Bam. 

Two weeks later, and Penn State is looking for its first win over a Power 4 opponent in October. The Nittany Lions blew a 17-point lead against Wisconsin and were blown out by Northwestern on Friday. Those aren't exactly two Big Ten teams known to be powerhouses in recent memory.

Any hopes of the College Football Playoff are over.

Can anything be salvaged?

Penn State will host No. 19 USC on Saturday. In the preseason, the contest was expected to be a critical game for the Nittany Lions' CFP hopes, as USC was one of the few ranked teams on the schedule.

Brad Crawford of CBS Sports suggested the home crowd at Beaver Stadium might not even be loud for the primetime contest. A big reason why is because the Iowa State transfers are "beginning to be exposed" during Big Ten play.

That shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone. The Big Ten is a much more superior overall conference than the Big 12. It would have been one thing had Campbell brought over transfers from a program like Texas Tech (or even BYU) to Penn State. 

But Iowa State finished 8-4 overall and 5-4 in Big 12 play last season. The Cyclones couldn't even compete with the top teams in the Big 12, there was no way to think those transfers would be able to lead Penn State to the Big Ten championship.

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