Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht entered the 2026 college football season as the most experienced starter across the country.
Through the first three weeks of the season, the Iowa State transfer looked like the Nittany Lions' sure thing under center. One week later and one Big Ten opponent down, that all changed and a lot of concerns surfaced for the offense as a whole, not just regarding Becht.
Penn State's offense was responsible for just one touchdown the whole game. The other was a pick six from true freshman cornerback Josiah Zayas in the second quarter, and that seemed to energize the Nittany Lions and swing momentum in their favor. Realistically, all it did was fuel the defense and make the 17-0 game at halftime less harsh for the offense than things really were.
In the second half, Penn State only managed to get a field goal up on the board and learned that its defense can't win games by itself. There wasn't any sort of offensive identity formed. That starts with the quarterback and Becht knows that too.
Rocco Becht quarterback grade for Week 2 loss to Wisconsin: C-
Becht was 12-of-29 for 129 yards, 1 interception, and zero touchdowns. He had a 71.8 passer rating and finished with a 41 percent completion rate. A less than 50 completion percentage deserves a less than average grade for the evening.
There were some positives that came out of his performance, but we're really scraping the bottom of the barrel on this one. Becht was forced in a lot of situations to use his legs, and he didn't shy away from those moments. He wasn't impressive (10 carries for 23 yards), but he wasn't hesitant. His rushing touchdown made him look more productive on the ground than what's on paper.
Becht needs to take advantage of the weapons he has around him. Some incompletions weren't entirely on him, but only one wide receiver, Chase Sowell, had a catch on Saturday and so did only one tight end, Benjamin Brahmer. The receiver struggles are still very much real, but the fact that there wasn't a single other wideout who hauled in a pass is concerning. Becht's experience in the NCAA should give him the ability to spread the offense around somehow, and he failed to do so.
Head coach Matt Campbell gave Becht grace after the loss, saying he thought his quarterback played well and that protection was the main issue. However, he also said he has confidence in the rest of his wide receivers. Take Campbell's word with a grain of salt. Becht didn't play well regardless of what that protection looked like. He overthrew balls, threw behind his receivers, and couldn't rally the offense to move down the field.
Collectively, the offense needs a huge turnaround heading into Week 5. If Penn State's field general from the first three weeks returns, it becomes a lot easier to have that switch. Week 4 has to be the outlier.
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