Penn State football concluded its spring season with a Blue-White Practice event, which included a scrimmage, at the end of April.
Post-spring Penn State football depth chart prediction for Matt Campbell’s 1st season
Throughout the spring, head coach Matt Campbell offered a lot of praise to various non-starters on the roster. Following the Blue-White Practice event, one of those was quarterback Connor Barry who transferred from a Division III squad after the 2025 season.
Not only did Campbell praise the senior quarterback, he went as far as naming him the MVP of the spring season.
“If you said, ‘Whose the guy who’s got the bulk of first-team reps or second-team reps and really made great strides,’ it’s been [Barry],” Campbell told reporters. “[He’s] kind of a guy who came out of nowhere a little bit for us. I’ve been really proud of what you would expect [from] a guy who’s played college football, a guy that has been in the room that has had to be the guy. I think there’s been great growth.”
Matt Campbell names quarterback Connor Barry the MVP of the 2026 spring season
Quarterback Rocco Becht is the expected starter for the Nittany Lions, but having that depth in that room is critical.
Barry led Christopher Newport to an undefeated, 10-0 season in 2025 and registered 2,866 passing yards and 35 passing touchdowns. He finished with a 67 percent completion rate as a junior. His performance made him a semifinalist for the Gagliardi Trophy, which recognizes Division III's most outstanding player.
His growth and performance in the spring in Happy Valley is proof to Campbell that Barry can take his success all the way to the Division I level. Even behind Becht, Barry can excel and provide a stability in an otherwise younger quarterback room.
Alex Manske, a redshirt freshman, is the only other contender for that backup role. Manske underwent surgery in the spring and did not play, which gave Barry an opportunity to show that he can be a serious No. 2 at quarterback despite Manske and Campbell having history together at Iowa State.
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