Penn State football extended its win streak to three games on Saturday after a 42-14 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers at home at Beaver Stadium. This put the Nittany Lions (6-4, 3-4 Big Ten) in non-playoff bowl contention.
The victory featured a 28-point half for Penn State's offense and a shutout by its defense. While Minnesota put up 14 points in the second half looked like it was finding some sort of rhythm coming out of halftime, it wasn't enough to climb out of the hole it dug itself on the scoreboard.
The Nittany Lions' offense looked solid, especially in that first half. Four drives ended in touchdowns in that half and the Nittany Lions only punted twice. This was the second week in a row where they put up 28 points in the first two quarters of play.
Rocco Becht quarterback grade in Week 11 win over Minnesota: B+
Despite the impressive lead the blue and white built, quarterback Rocco Becht didn't have a crazy stat line by any means. He finished the night completing nine-of-15 passes for 84 yards and three touchdowns.
This was his third consecutive game without throwing an interception. It's the exact kind of consistency the Nittany Lions have searched for from their quarterback since Big Ten play began in regards to turning the ball over. However, Becht took three sacks against Minnesota's defense.
Saturday was also a time for Penn State's improved run to shine. The rainy weather conditions put an extra emphasis on the ground game. The Nittany Lions ran for 229 yards against the Golden Gophers, including a 126-yard game from senior back Carson Hansen and 82-yard performance from junior Cam Wallace. Hansen and Becht had rushing touchdowns on the night, which makes it four total scores Becht was credited with. Wallace caught a one-yard touchdown pass.
Becht's first half was solid considering the kind of game it was, but it wasn't "impressive" by any means. He was smart and did his job well enough with command to take advantage of good field position, protect the ball in unideal weather, assist Penn State's run in the win, and give backup Alex Manske an opportunity to get some live reps in and finish out the game.
There wasn't a lot to judge Manske on considering he came in with roughly seven minutes left of regulation. He was 2-of-2 for 38 yards and one touchdown. Running back James Peoples hauled in a 22-yard pass for some extra security, putting up the final score of the night.
It's too small of a sample size of snaps to give Manske a true grade, but the one drive he played resulted in a touchdown and he cut off a couple minutes on the clock as well. For what we saw, though, it's worth seeing again. In these next two regular season games vs. Rutgers and at Maryland, it'll be nice to see Manske on the field some more to see what head coach Matt Campbell and Penn State are really working with moving past the 2026 season and Becht.
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