Why Michigan football feels it has a 'good handle' on Penn State's roster
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
While the Big Ten might not be familiar with this Penn State roster, Michigan football's staff is.
Matt Campbell went from Iowa State to PSU to take over the Nittany Lions and brought with him two dozen of his former Cyclones players. For perspective, U-M brought four players from Utah (John Henry Daley, Jonah Lea'ea, JJ Buchanan and Smith Snowden) and flipped one freshman commit (Salesi Moa).
“He brought like 20-something guys with him, a big number of guys,” Whittingham told Jon Jansen on the latest "Inside Michigan Football" show. “So very familiar with the quarterback and a lot of the personnel, so it’s not the first time that our coaches have seen a lot of these guys. It’s the first time the players have seen a lot of these guys, obviously, which is more important than the coaches seeing them. But we feel like we’ve got a good handle on the personnel.”
Whittingham and Campbell met just once as head coaches in the Big 12, with Iowa State topping Utah 31-28 on Nov. 23, 2024. Defensive coordinator Jay Hill, meanwhile, faced Iowa State twice while coordinating defenses at BYU, splitting the results with a 45-13 win in 2023 and a 41-27 loss in 2025.
Rocco Becht, the quarterback who started in both games and will be under center for the Nittany Lions on Saturday, Oct. 17 (3:30 p.m., CBS), completed a combined 39 of 59 passes (66.1%) for 514 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. He leads all active FBS quarterbacks with 43 career starts and 29 victories.
Like Whittingham, Campbell has struggled in his first year going from the Big 12 to the Big Ten.
Penn State (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten) has lost three straight games and given up an average of more than 28 points per game in those losses after opening the season with three straight wins over Group of Six opponents. Michigan also hasn't won in three weeks (though one was a bye) and has started 0-2 in the Big Ten for just the second time since 1967.
Still, Whittingham identified some big bodies in the trenches as one of Penn State's strengths.
“They have a big offensive line,” Whittingham said of the Nittany Lions. “They’re physical. They’re 6-6, 330, 320, 325 … I think one guy doesn’t have the great size. But those guys can just wear you out.
“Defensively, they’ve got good size on the defensive line, as well, so they’re a physical team.”
Penn State has struggled particularly in the run game, picking up just 116 combined yards the past two games while averaging fewer than 3.3 rush yards per game against Big Ten opponents. While U-M's College Football Playoff hopes are on life support, the Nittany Lions have effectively been eliminated.
Playing to stay on track for a bowl game wasn't exactly what PSU was picked to do when it entered the season ranked in the top 20 and seemingly had one of the easier schedules in the conference by avoiding Oregon, Ohio State and Indiana.
Now, Penn State is looking for its first win in nearly a month as it has to show itself − and its fanbase − it hasn't quit on the season.
"Can we prove to ourselves again that we can grow and do hard things well?," Campbell told local reporters of the message to the team. "I think that’s the narrative, and that’s what we’re not going to flinch. We’re going to continue to hold standards, we’re going to continue to hold accountability and we’re going to continue to demand a pathway forward.”
Michigan enters the game as a 5½-point favorite, but it knows not to look too much into that, having been favored by almost that exact same spread against Iowa and Minnesota, both of which ended as losses. The Nittany Lions are looking to get their run game going, while Michigan looks to remain stout in run defense.
U-M enters the game No. 3 in the nation in total defense (241.4 yards per game) and No. 17 against the run (94.6). It may be a new-look group for U-M fans, but it's one that the majority of Michigan's staff is familiar with.
"They’re going to try to run zone weak and wash everything down and get the ball to back-bounce," defensive tackle coach Larry Black said. "They mixed in a little power and counter versus USC this week, so we’ll be excited to go against that.
“Veteran quarterback with some skill, but they love their tight ends. They’re going to try and use them. They’re going to try and get physical, and that’s what we want. We want to get physical, as well. Good team, experienced team, experienced quarterback and great staff.”
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why Michigan football feels it has a 'good handle' on Penn State's roster
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos