Penn State comes to homecoming weekend sitting at 4-4, and the story of this season has been a stretch where nearly everything that could go wrong did. The Nittany Lions opened 3-0 against a soft non-conference slate, and the early buzz around a mix of young holdovers and top-end Iowa State depth chart talent looked promising. Then the wheels came off.
Penn State was ranked No. 13 and jumped out to a 17-0 lead against Wisconsin before the game flipped on a turnover, shaky defense and a long touchdown throw in the closing seconds. From there came injuries, then back-to-back close losses to USC and Michigan, both games in which Penn State led in the second half. Brian Bennett of Black Shoe Diaries said the biggest thing now would be getting the roster fully healthy so the staff can finally see what this team might have looked like at full strength.
On offense, the Lions are built around quarterback Rocco Becht, the Iowa State transfer who has completed 63.5% of his passes for 1839 yards with 13 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Bennett said most of Becht’s best work came early in the year, especially when he kept mistakes down in a win over Purdue.
But the bigger reason Penn State won that game was the run game, with little-used Cam Wallace suddenly matching his season carries and piling up 130+ yards and a score. That ground production has been missing in conference play, and the passing game has also been hit by injuries to top wideouts Koby Howard and Chase Sowell.
Bennett pointed to Becht’s best work coming when he’s throwing to those two receivers and the tight ends, not the other team. He noted that Becht’s turnovers accounted for all 21 of Michigan’s points in a 21-18 loss at the Big House.
Defensively, Penn State is operating under former USC coordinator D’Anton Lynn, and Bennett said the biggest change from past Penn State defenses is personnel. The front features big defensive tackles that are tough to move, but the rest of the front seven has been a problem.
Outside linebacker Tony Rojas, whom Bennett called an All-American candidate, there hasn’t been much else in terms of playmakers up front. The linebackers have struggled, the edge rush hasn’t gotten home, and the tackles have had trouble moving laterally.
Northwestern took advantage of that with the run game, though Penn State handled Purdue’s offense last weekend. Even so, Bennett said he wouldn’t expect that to become the norm, especially with Washington and mobile quarterback Demond Williams coming up.
In the secondary, he singled out corners Audavion Collins and Daryus Dixson as physical players who can get handsy but are still good, and freshman defensive back Josiah Zayas as a turnover threat.
One name that might not get enough attention outside the fan base is tight end Andrew Rappleyea. Bennett said Rappleyea has dealt with injuries for much of his career and often lived in the shadow of other players, but he’s now at the top of the depth chart. He’s been a strong blocker and has added production in the passing game with 28 catches and three touchdowns through eight games.
As for the rest of the season, Bennett said Penn State can win out, but he also believes every remaining game is losable based on the way this team has played at different points. He described Penn State as a resilient program with a long history of bouncing back, and said Matt Campbell is realizing he can’t do things in Happy Valley the same way he did in Ames, Iowa. With the CFP expanding, Bennett expects Penn State to get back into the bracket within the next couple years.
For this week, though, Bennett’s pick was Washington. He said he doesn’t trust Penn State’s offense to finish drives in the red zone, pointing to that issue as the reason the Lions lost to USC and Michigan. His view: Washington scores enough, Becht gives Penn State at least one costly turnover, and the Huskies leave with the win.
In Other News...
Washington Just Raised A Bigger Quarterback Concern For The Future
Washingtons quarterback future took another hit this week when Blake Roskopf backed off his pledge, adding to a run of recruiting turbulence that has already left the program trying to steady itself. The four-star prospect had been the lone quarterback committed in the Class of 2027, so his departure does more than thin out a recruiting board. It leaves the Huskies looking at a future room that now has to be built almost entirely from scratch.
The timing matters because this is the second high-end recruit to step away in the past week, and it comes against the backdrop of a program that may be prioritizing retention over splashy recruiting wins. For a staff trying to protect the roster it already has, that approach can make sense, but it also creates pressure elsewhere, especially at quarterback, where the pipeline is suddenly a concern rather than a strength. [Read more 🡒]
Washington Recruiting Suddenly Has A Jedd Fisch Problem
Washingtons recruiting momentum has taken a hit in the span of a few days, a reminder that the early days of the Jedd Fisch era are still vulnerable to the kind of volatility that comes with any coaching change. The Huskies have been trying to build on-field traction after a notable road win at Nebraska, where Chris Lawson and Demond Williams helped deliver a result that should have been a boost for the programs broader pitch.
Instead, the recruiting board has gotten shakier. Former Husky Trent McDuffie recently voiced his thoughts about missing the Pac-12 in a radio interview, a nod to how much the conference shift still hangs over the programs identity, and Washington now has to keep selling stability while navigating the uncertainty that comes with a new staff and a new league. For Fisch and his assistants, the challenge is no longer just landing prospects, but keeping them in the fold long enough to make the class feel secure. [Read more 🡒]
Washington Defense Just Changed The Huskies' Bowl Push
After the loss to Iowa, Washington needed a response, and the Huskies have gotten one in the form of a defense that suddenly looks far more dependable. In back-to-back wins, the unit has tightened up against Purdue and Nebraska, cutting down scoring chances and creating the kind of momentum-changing turnovers that can flip a season in November.
The latest step forward came against Nebraska, where Washington kept the pressure on and turned defense into points. The Huskies are now one win away from bowl eligibility, and with the way the defense has steadied the team, the final stretch feels a lot more manageable than it did just a couple of weeks ago. [Read more 🡒]