It’s flip season in college football, still a little over a month out from the early signing period, which begins on December 2 for the 2027 college football recruiting class. With Penn State on a bye, head coach Matt Campbell has been on the offensive, pursuing Miami (OH) running back decommit Jordan Hall and Missouri quarterback commit Braylen Warren, but his 20th-ranked class is also under attack.
On Sunday, three-star quarterback commit Will Wood flipped from Penn State to Boston College, leaving the Nittany Lions with just 20 commits, and now that number is threatening to dwindle to 19 as Steve Wiltfong and Sean Fitz of Rivals have logged predictions for three-star linebacker Blake Betton to flip to Wisconsin.
Betton is the No. 4-ranked prospect in Minnesota according to 247Sports Composite, and the No. 35 linebacker in the country. He committed to Penn State in April and recently visited Beaver Stadium for the Nittany Lions’ White Out loss to USC.
Penn State’s recruiting reputation appears to be waning
Campbell has never been an elite recruiter, but with greater resources at his disposal in Happy Valley than he had in Ames, the former Iowa State head coach leveled up his operation in the offseason, landing a top-20 class. Still, Penn State isn’t an elite spender, lining up right alongside mid-tier Big Ten programs like Wisconsin, and with an 0-4 start in conference play this year, any reputational advantage that Penn State had over programs like Luke Fickell’s Badgers, which beat Campbell’s team in Week 4, has seemingly waned.
Wood’s de-commitment appeared to have a lot to do with geography, staying in Massachusetts. Betton’s seemingly pending de-commitment could have similar factors at play, or there could be a financial factor, as Wisconsin has built up its player acquisition apparatus around Fickell rather than firing him after a few thin years in Madison. Penn State could even be attempting to free up money for its pursuit of Warren as its Wood replacement.
If not geographical or financial, though, maybe Betton’s decision could be based on performance, not just Wisconsin winning its way up the Big Ten hierarchy as Penn State sinks to the basement, but on the linebacker play in general.
Penn State is unsettled at the second level as multiple Iowa State transfers who thrived under Campbell’s longtime defensive coordinator Jon Heacock in his 3-3-5 system struggle to adjust to D’Anton Lynn’s 4-2-5 structure. With much more space to cover and athleticism a more significant factor, Kooper Ebel and Cael Brezina have looked overmatched at MIKE linebacker, and Caleb Bacon has moved from off-ball linebacker to defensive end.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin has one of the best linebacker duos in the country in Cooper Catalano and Mason Posa, two homegrown sophomores. Campbell’s staff has a long track record as talent developers, but that was at Iowa State in the Big 12.
Regardless of Betton’s reasons for his potential flip, his decision would leave the Nittany Lions with just one off-ball linebacker commit in the class: four-star Case Alexander from Oklahoma.
There’s still a chance that Penn State holds Wisconsin off for Betton, but it doesn’t look promising.
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