The last time Penn State started 0-4 in Big Ten play was in 2004, an existential period in the 46-year tenure of Joe Paterno, as the Nittany Lions embarked on a 4-7 campaign after posting a 3-9 record in 2003. It didn’t happen during the Bill O’Brien years, when the program was facing sanctions from the Jerry Sandusky scandal. It didn’t happen during James Franklin’s 12 years at the helm.
Yet, in an era of unprecedented roster flexibility and unprecedentedly quick program turnarounds from Curt Cignetti’s dominance at Indiana to Bob Chesney’s hot start at UCLA, Matt Campbell’s Nittany Lions are 3-4 and 0-4 in Big Ten play heading into their bye after a 21-18 loss to Michigan in Week 7. It’s never been easier to build a team quickly in college football history, yet at least since 2004, Penn State has never been worse.
Somehow, in the face of Penn State’s long-standing institutional success and still in the shadow of James Franklin’s 2024 College Football Playoff semifinal appearance, Campbell has resorted to denigrating the state of the program and the state James Franklin left it in to justify his embarrassing start.
Asked how he squares his rhetoric about growth with the lack of results by Lions247’s Daniel Gallen in his postgame press conference, Campbell sounded as though he inherited Cignetti’s circumstances in Bloomington with the losingest program in college football history or Chesney’s in Westwood, not a program with such a high standard (justifiably or not) that it fired Franklin before he could even lose his fourth straight conference game in 2025.
“Well, I don't think you can flinch right now," Campbell said. "You're building the foundation of a football program. And to be quite honest with you, the foundation of a program that needs to continue to showcase that it has the ability when it gets hard and when it gets tough, and again, we're not there, right?”
Matt Campbell doesn’t seem to understand why he’s in Happy Valley and James Franklin is not
Penn State cracked under the national championship expectations of the 2025 preseason, crumbling after its overtime loss to Oregon in the first week of Big Ten play. After the dust settled, Franklin even admitted that he foolishly abandoned his “1-0 mentality” to focus on bigger goals in the face of his program’s constant shortcomings in big games.
That Penn State was constantly playing in big games is kind of the point, though. It was a program that couldn’t break through the ceiling, not a program falling through the basement floor. Campbell wasn’t brought to Happy Valley to teach Penn State how to balance on its own two feet in the Big Ten. He was brought to stand strong and trade punches with Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana, and yes, Michigan.
He was put behind the eight ball because athletic director Pat Kraft whiffed in his pursuit of BYU’s Kalani Sitake, extending the coaching search beyond the start of the early signing period. And without much of a runway, Campbell opted to import 24 former Iowa State Cyclones in the transfer portal, seemingly to establish the culture and lay the very foundation he’s talking about.
Yet, it’s those veteran Iowa State transfers, most notably his four-year starting quarterback Rocco Becht, who look overmatched in Big Ten play. Becht’s three turnovers against Michigan led to all 21 Michigan points. Campbell believed Becht could make the transition from the Big 12, and he was wrong.
Campbell is the one, whether through his flawed evaluations, the obstacles that Kraft’s missteps presented him, or any combination of the numerous factors that determine the outcome of a college football season, who is dragging Penn State to the bottom. He didn’t find it there and asked to pull it out, but it sounds like that’s what he wants the fanbase to believe.
Coaches say a lot of things to deflect the blame or alleviate the pressure of a losing streak. What’s he going to say that’s going to keep the fanbase happy right now? Other than Alex Manske is the starting quarterback after the bye, not much. However, this message Campbell has attempted to push this year and reiterated after his latest defeat is insulting to the very fanbase he desperately needs to have on his side.
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