Penn State’s latest collapse was the kind that leaves everybody with fingerprints on it. The 34-13 loss to Northwestern was ugly on the scoreboard, but the numbers underneath were even harsher: 507 total yards allowed, 414 of them on the ground, along with a 58% success rate and 7.7 yards per play surrendered.
Northwestern did not cough the ball up once. Penn State, meanwhile, got rolled in the debut of the new Ryan Field by a Wildcats team that already looked dangerous after nearly upsetting Indiana a week earlier and now has Chip Kelly steering the offense.
The result pushed Penn State to 0-2 in Big Ten play, and the outlook is getting grim fast. The College Football Playoff is out of reach, and there’s no guarantee the Nittany Lions even get to a bowl game.
There’s plenty of blame to spread around after a second straight loss to the team that ended James Franklin’s tenure last year. Here are the five biggest losers from the mess.
Pat Kraft sits at the top of the list because the whole situation traces back to the coaching change and what came after it. It’s still too early to make sweeping judgments about firing Franklin a year after a College Football Playoff run and the chaotic search that followed, but the questions are getting louder.
Kraft wanted a splash hire and passed over younger, rising names. Bob Chesney, a Northeast coach who turned a CFP appearance at James Madison into the UCLA job, was one of the examples mentioned, and UCLA has looked better than expected in Year 1.
Will Stein was another candidate in the mix, and he already owns a road win at Kentucky and a victory at Texas A&M in College Station, though that result “isn’t aging particularly well.” Kraft also whiffed publicly on BYU’s Kalani Sitake before landing on Matt Campbell, and right now that choice looks shaky.
Even so, the drawn-out search left Penn State behind on the 2027 recruiting class.
Campbell is the next major loser, and not just because the roster he inherited has serious flaws. His in-game decisions have been too cautious for two straight weeks.
A week after Penn State blew a 17-point lead to Wisconsin despite winning the turnover battle and getting a defensive touchdown, the Nittany Lions got steamrolled. The conservative approach showed up early, when Penn State punted on 4th-and-2 from its own 44-yard line while already trailing 10-0 in the first quarter.
Then, after a second-half touchdown cut the deficit to 31-13 following a disastrous attempt at a “Philly Special,” Campbell kicked the ball away instead of trying an onside kick with 7:53 left and Penn State still down three scores.
Ikaika Malloe has to wear a chunk of the defensive failure, even if D’Anton Lynn is the one who ultimately owns a run defense that gave up more than 400 yards. Malloe’s job is the interior line, and that room was built to be bigger and sturdier after Deion Barnes was replaced.
The idea was to bring in 300-plus pound tackles who could absorb blocks and let the linebackers play fast and free. That trade-off comes with some pass-rush sacrifice, and Penn State’s pass rush has been poor all season, but the system only works if the front can at least hold its ground.
Instead, the defensive tackles were getting blown backward all night. Kooper Ebel and Tony Rojas struggled too, getting pulled around by Chip Kelly’s eye candy while Keanu Williams, Armstrong Nnodim, and the rest of the interior line had bodies in their lap all game.
Rocco Becht was another clear loser, even if the offense’s problems went well beyond one quarterback. He didn’t have many open receivers downfield, the protection was shaky, and the run game never found traction.
Still, the veteran quarterback has done little to suggest he fits in the Big Ten. He’s been inaccurate, uneasy, and indecisive, and for the second week in a row he had multiple passes tipped at the line.
His arm strength is below average, his athleticism is underwhelming, and he hasn’t shown the confidence to trust his receivers and rip the ball. That hesitation is only making his flaws more obvious.
He also isn’t handling the small details well, whether that means setting protections for an offensive line with a young center or getting the offense into the right play. The source material says there aren’t really any right plays for this offense without Koby Howard, which is also why Taylor Mouser narrowly missed this list.
The White Out rounds out the five. It’s hard to zoom out in the immediate aftermath of a loss like this, but the broader picture is bad.
Penn State is 0-2 in conference play, the program is heading toward a disastrous first year under Campbell after a disastrous final year under Franklin, ticket prices are higher than ever, and Beaver Stadium has not been filling up this season. That makes the program’s biggest tradition and biggest recruiting showcase feel like a stage for all the wrong kind of attention.
In Other News...
Penn State's Matt Campbell Era Already Faces One Uncomfortable Reality
Penn States 2026 season has already turned into a hard reality check at 3-3, with no interconference wins and problems showing up on both sides of the ball. The roster includes plenty of players who followed Matt Campbell from Iowa State, but the adjustment to Big Ten play has exposed a familiar gap: the Nittany Lions still do not have the kind of overall talent base needed to make a real push in this league.
The offense has had to manage without wide receiver Koby Howard, adding another layer to a unit already searching for answers. And while the season is still young enough for recovery, the larger concern is harder to ignore. If Penn State wants to be more than a respectable program with a familiar coach, analysts believe it will have to spend more aggressively and recruit at a higher level to build a true national-title roster. [Read more 🡒]
Penn States Young Left Tackle Is Trying To Fix A Bigger Problem
Malachi Goodman has settled in as Penn States left tackle in a hurry, winning the job and starting all six games so far this season. For a redshirt freshman, that kind of responsibility brings plenty of learning moments, and Goodman has already had a few early corrections to make, including subtle mistakes like tipping off plays before the snap. He has spent the season trying to clean those up while holding down one of the most visible spots on the line.
The bigger issue, though, goes beyond one young blocker. Penn States running game has not been as consistent as the staff would like, and Goodman pointed to technique and cohesion as the key places where the offensive line has to improve together. For a unit still building trust and rhythm, the challenge is less about any one player and more about getting five linemen working with the same timing and same level of precision. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Heads To Michigan With Two Troubling Questions Up Front
Penn States trip to Michigan arrives with the same familiar concern hanging over the Nittany Lions: can the front control the game well enough to let the rest of the roster breathe? The matchup puts a spotlight on both lines, and Penn States recent issues generating a consistent pass rush have become hard to ignore. Against a Michigan front that has shown a stronger ability to heat up the quarterback, the Nittany Lions are staring at a test that could shape the whole afternoon long before the skill players get involved.
Rocco Becht and the Penn State offense will need cleaner pockets and more stability than they have found lately, especially with Michigan edge rusher John Henry Daley bringing real pressure off the edge. The other side of the ball brings its own stress point, because Penn States defensive line has not consistently won enough snaps to force offenses off schedule. For a team trying to survive in a rugged road environment, the questions up front are not side issues, they are the story. [Read more 🡒]