Penn State was never supposed to be contending for anything more than a Bowl Game this season — at least that’s what we’ll keep telling ourselves. Head coach Matt Campbell brought over a ton of Iowa State transfers for his first season in the Big Ten, and while that’s a tough way to build a contending team, a light schedule (or so we thought) gave some hope that it was possible.
But now those dreams are almost assuredly over just a month into the season. If the Nittany Lions got dropped from the College Football Playoff race this year, most people expected it to be at the hands of USC or Michigan — not Wisconsin.
The Badgers are a good team, but they are one that Penn State should have had no problem beating. It got out to a 17-0 lead before the bottom
fell out, eventually losing the game 24-20 thanks to a backbreaking 70-yard touchdown.
While it’s only one loss that the Nittany Lions can certainly come back from, it’s a concerning sign from Campbell. It was his first real test in Happy Valley, and the pressure seemed to get to him and completely throw him off his game.
The game was called a lot more conservatively than the first three contests on the offensive side of the ball, and it felt like the team was playing not to lose instead of taking control of a victory. This was a common theme with former head coach James Franklin, getting outside of himself in high-stakes situations and playing down to competition.
To be fair, Campbell doesn’t have as much talent in his first season as some of the best teams in the Big Ten do, so things could be much different when his recruiting classes finally make it to State College. But that won’t matter to a Penn State fanbase that was growing weary of Franklin’s ability to truly compete on the big stage.
It’s only Year 1 for Campbell, and his team was never coming close to winning a national championship even if they snuck into the playoff. But he cannot have many more losses like that this season, or the complaints from the fanbase and the comparisons to Franklin will start rolling in.
It feels like the former Cyclones coach still has the utmost support from the fanbase and the school at the moment. But Campbell was hired to bring a chance to Penn State, not to exacerbate the problems the program already had. The Nittany Lions have a crucial stretch of games starting this weekend at Northwestern that should give us valuable insight on who this team is.
Will they scratch and claw to regain the edge they played with in the first three weeks of the season, or will they fall victim to the same pitfalls that have ailed so many Penn State teams in the past?
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This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Matt Campbell has lots to prove at Penn State after Wisconsin collapse
