1. Ugh.
2. I love writing for BSD (it was 10 years this past June, by the way) and literally don’t have any plans to ever stop, but I am NOT looking forward to this one at all.
3. I wanted to lie to ourselves for at least two more weeks. Beat Wisconsin, beat Northwestern, and let’s have a fun week before the USC White Out and that could have been when reality hits.
4. But, alas, here we are. September 29th and we’re having to do the song and dance about how Matt Campbell sucks and his tenure is already
failure because he lost one game.
5. I try my best not to gatekeep how fans react to games or how they want to treat their fandom. We all use sports to “escape” from the real world and at the end of the day this isn’t life-or-death, so react however you feel. Whether that’s homer or doom-and-gloomer, I get it and understand it’s all part of the wonderful world that is sports fandom.
6. But, folks, I will remind everyone: we are 4 games into this new era. I know we all wanted the next guy to be The Guy right away, but coaching transitions can take time — even the great ones. I mentioned this in Stock Up, Stock Down, but guys like Kirby Smart, Mario Cristobal, Marcus Freeman, etc. all had worse records their first year than the program had the year prior to them taking over. That doesn’t mean Matt Campbell is guaranteed success in the way those guys have, but there’s generally a reason there was a coaching change in the first place.
7. I mentioned before I try not to gatekeep how fans choose to fan, but I do want to say something: if you are a Penn State “fan” who attends games and goes down to the player tunnel after the game to boo the players and coaching staff as they come off the field, please know you are an enormous loser who is a disgusting excuse of a person.
8. A crowd booing and groaning a bad third down call is fine. That’s basically an involuntary reaction. But to get up from your seat, waddle on down to the tunnel with the specific intent to boo and yell at the players and coaches — man, you just absolutely suck. Please, stop going to games. We all would be better for it.
9. All right, I guess some actualy game thoughts.
10. Do I even say anything positive?
11. Josiah Zayas pick six was sick. He’s going to be an awesome player here. Still crazy to me this kid went to Piscataway H.S. and Rutgers didn’t even try to be involved? Like has there ever been a State College High product that Penn State didn’t offer that ended up hitting essentially right away somewhere else?
12. Tony Rojas with a terrific night: 6 tackles, 2 TFLs, 1 sack, and 1 INT. He’s on pace for a 12 TFLs, 6 sacks, and 6 INTs. Granted, I don’t think the INTs will hold up, but he looks great for coming off a torn ACL.
13. I’m going to guess Carson Hansen is not going to be RB1 against Northwestern.
14. Also, not a great night for my guy Quinton Martin. Real shame too because I thought he had a chance to score a touchdown during Penn State’s first red zone trip. Might have very well changed the game.
15. Would you guys believe if I said Rocco Becht started this game 4-of-5? That game aged me years that I could barely remember the beginning of the first quarter, but he actually started out well.
16. So Rocco Becht. Uh, supremely disappointing performance. I had some hope after the first two weeks that maybe he had taken a step, but that does not appear to be the case. Do I think this is the normal Rocco performance we’ll get? No, I think he’s still a solid QB, but at Iowa State he was known for some bone-headed decision making and some stinkers. Well, we definitely got one of the stinkers.
17. I give some grace to Taylor Mouser on the Rocco side of things because I think Rocco’s poor play wasn’t something they planned for at all, and he (and Matt Campbell) decided the best course of action was to just sit on the ball and hope the clock ran out. Obviously, that was wrong, but I think much of the game plan got warped because Rocco looked that bad. Moving forward, there’s got a be a plan in place that’s basically a “BREAK IN CASE OF EMERGENCY” if Rocco sucks. Because this is the Big Ten, folks, not the Big 12. Teams will eventually punish you if you just hope to sit on the ball for the last 1.5 quarters.
18. We saw Rocco run a little bit more on Saturday, but I think that’s going to be something they’ll need to do more of. I am sure they originally wanted to limit his running because they don’t want him to take unnecessary hits, but I think it’s clear he can’t just be a pocket passer. He’s got to utilize his legs more, and Taylor Mouser has to utilize his overall mobility. Move him out of the pocket and change the look defenses are getting.
19. More Taylor Mouser takes: the tight end usage is starting to become a giveaway for what type of play Penn State wants to run. Ben Brahmer played 45 snaps, 67.4% of those were pass plays. Gabe Burkle played 28 snaps, 71.4% of those were run plays. Fin Furmanek got 11 plays, 81.8% of those plays were runs.
20. Burkle or Furmanek in, probably going to be a run. Brahmer in there, decent chance it’s going to be a pass.
21. The offensive line is not without blame for how the running game has struggled, but man does it feel like Penn State is bringing more defenders into the box when it goes with these heavy tight end sets and basically lets the opposition know they’re probably going to run the ball.
22. I don’t have many new concerns about the defense. Pass rush is what it is, but I’m not sure there are a ton of teams on the schedule that can take advantage of it in a real way. It’s really just USC. But I think if this offense can put in ~average~ performances, the defense is good enough to win these team some games. I think it’s a top 20 unit.
23. Caleb Bacon showed why he was a linebacker before this year. He really just has a bull rush move and that’s it. No plan beyond that when rushing the QB.
24. I’d like to see more Alex McPherson. Only played 12 snaps but he looks like a kid who is going to figure it out.
25. It’s a testament to how bad Penn State’s collapse was that none of us care that the Wisconsin tight end probably should have been called for OPI on the game-winning touchdown.
26. I’m not saying that’s OPI 10/10, but more often than not that type of shove is going to get a flag, no?
27. For a guy who has some NFL buzz, Marcus Neal is sort of just a box safety that’s the Gucci version of Jonathan Sutherland? Beyond this play, he was also beat in coverage on Wisconsin’s first touchdown in the 4th to make it 20-17.
28. I think what chaps my ass the most about this game is that after the Tony Rojas interception in the 4th, that’s where Penn State should have put the nail in the coffin. Like hey Wisconsin, good fight. You made this way tougher than it needed to be. You have eaten some punches, but here’s the knockout blow. And that knockout blow was Brett Eskildsen getting a step on the Wisconsin wideout with nothing but grass in front of him…
29. That ball is put out in front, that is a touchdown. Penn State is up 27-10 with under 8 minutes to go and they almost assuredly escape. Instead, it’s an underthrow that allows the Wisconsin DB to get a hand in Eskildsen’s breadbasket and break up the pass.
30. I miss Koby Howard.
31. I truthfully don’t have too much more. The Solid Verbal guys always say how good teams find a way to “win their stinkers.” Penn State did not do that.
32. I don’t know how good this team is, but I don’t think the offense is as bad as they showed on Saturday night. I understand the sentiment around here of expecting Penn State to lose to Northwestern, but I do think there’s just a good of chance that they win by 10+. This isn’t to excuse Penn State, but the Big Ten feels like the NFL in that there’s a small top tier (Ohio State, Indiana, and…Oregon?), a small bottom tier (Rutgers, Purdue, maybe even Maryland), and then everyone else fighting for positioning from 4-15. Who’s the 4th best team? Iowa? Are they dramatically better than Illinois or Nebraska? What about UCLA and Northwestern? It just feels like there’s more parity now than we’ve ever had. Because even the top, Indiana barely survived at home against Northwestern and Oregon has already succumbed to Oklahoma State.
33. Maybe Penn State sucks and this game told us everything we need to know about them. Or maybe it’s just one bad game and you give credit to Wisconsin for taking advantage of the moment, while remembering the season is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s not apples to apples, but I can think back to a blowout against Michigan in 2022 and the consternation headed into the Minnesota game — one that Penn State aptly won 45-17. Or the Washington game in 2024 after another Ohio State defeat — again, one that Penn State won 35-6. Or let’s go further back and remember when Penn State lost to Illinois at home in 2010 33-13 — and then bounced back with a 33-21 road victory over Minnesota.
34. College football is dumb. Trying to make sense of it is fun, but also dumb. I don’t know what to expect with Northwestern, but I’m hopeful it’s better than what we saw Saturday.
