Penn State had already been beaten by the time the clock dipped under two minutes against Northwestern. Down three touchdowns with 92 seconds left, the result was settled. Still, Rocco Becht remained at quarterback, and the final snap of the night only deepened the mess.
Becht, the 22-year-old fifth-year senior transfer from Iowa State, stayed in until the end and threw another interception in Penn State’s 34-13 loss. Matt Campbell never turned to redshirt freshman Alex Manske, even after a night full of mistakes from Becht and a performance that left plenty of people wondering why the backup never got a chance.
Campbell said he never considered making the switch. He never considered pulling Becht, who walked into sacks, overthrew touchdowns and sidearmed incompletions. He never considered handing the offense to Manske, even as the game slipped further away.
That decision stood out because the loss itself was already part of a larger collapse. Penn State had blown a 17-point lead in an inexplicable loss to Wisconsin less than a week earlier, and Friday’s setback at Northwestern pushed the Nittany Lions even closer to missing bowl eligibility than to any College Football Playoff conversation.
The early-season wins over Marshall, Temple and Buffalo had offered a little hope. Campbell’s first season had begun without championship expectations, but that changed once the Big Ten schedule looked manageable. Now, after the Wisconsin meltdown and the Northwestern blowout, 2026 is starting to look like a lost season.
That is what made the refusal to play Manske so hard to understand. The game was out of reach, and while Manske wouldn’t have changed the outcome, he could have at least given Penn State a look at what might come next.
Northwestern’s ground game was the real wrecking ball anyway. The Wildcats piled up 413 rushing yards, the fourth-most allowed in program history. No quarterback change would have fixed Penn State giving up 7.5 yards per carry.
But the point wasn’t about salvaging Friday night. It was about learning something. Instead, Campbell kept Becht out there, and the choice felt like loyalty winning out over evaluation.
Becht’s résumé is not in question. He was a 39-game starter at Iowa State and threw for more than 9,000 yards there. He has been a leader, a playmaker and a winner.
None of that has shown up in Big Ten play.
Maybe his offseason shoulder surgery has changed him. Maybe the yips have taken hold. Whatever the reason, Becht looked shaken by his own crowd in last weekend’s opener against Wisconsin, and he looked overwhelmed again Friday at Northwestern’s new Ryan Field.
That setting should have mattered. A 22-year-old with Becht’s experience ought to have been able to handle a charged crowd and a big moment. He didn’t.
So now the questions are getting louder. Should Campbell keep riding with Becht when Penn State returns to Beaver Stadium to face USC in front of what figures to be a restless crowd? Is there still any reason not to find out what Manske can do?
College football doesn’t wait around anymore. The transfer portal is real.
NIL is real. Penn State has a general manager, too.
And with five games gone, the bigger picture is impossible to ignore. Barring something dramatic, this season is not heading anywhere better than the ReliaQuest Bowl, and Penn State still needs answers at quarterback for 2027.
Is Manske the guy? Or will the Nittany Lions have to spend in the portal next offseason?
Some may think it’s too early to talk that way. But after two straight ugly performances from Becht and a team that got bullied by Northwestern, the future is already staring everyone in the face.
On Friday, Campbell chose Becht over the chance to learn more about Manske.
That can’t keep happening.
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