Saturday wasn’t a total loss for Penn State as Nittany Lions land elite 2026 commit

The most important task for James Franklin and Penn State on Saturday was beating Ohio State, but recruiting is always on the mind of a head coach, and with so many elite recruits in Happy Valley for the top-five showdown, Franklin had to come away with at least one significant commitment. 

The Nittany Lions couldn’t beat the Buckeyes, falling 20-13 after jumping out to a 10-0 lead, but before the game even kicked off in front of a record crowd at Beaver Stadium, Franklin already had a big-time recruiting win. Four-star safety Matt Sieg from Fort Cherry High School in western Pennsylvania announced his commitment to Penn State just before kickoff on Saturday morning. 

Sieg was one of Franklin’s top priorities in the 2026 class and early recruiting in-state has paid off. After landing the No. 3 player in PA in 2026 according to 247Sports and the No. 137 overall player in the class, Penn State has the third-ranked 2026 recruiting class in the country with seven commits. The top three players in that seven-player class are all from Pennsylvania, four-star tackle Kevin Brown, Sieg, and four-star athlete Messiah Mickens. 

Only Oregon and Texas A&M, the two programs ahead of Penn State in the current 2026 recruiting rankings, have landed the same number of commits in that class, both also with seven. If Penn State finally wants to break through against elite programs like Ohio State and new Big Ten powerhouse Oregon, they’ll need to recruit on that level, and so far in 2026, they’re off to a good start. 

Sieg was on campus for the big game, along with a few important flip candidates, 2025 five-star quarterback Matt Zollers, who is committed to Missouri, and 2025 four-star tight end Andrew Olesh, who is committed to Michigan. Penn State’s 2025 class ranks No. 15 in the country with 25 commits.