It's safe to say that Rocco Becht has had a very Jekyll-and-Hyde-esque start to his Penn State career. In three games before Big Ten play, Becht was as efficient as you could hope for out of a transfer QB and the most experienced QB in the country. He had thrown for 751 yards and no touchdowns and, most importantly, no interceptions. The Wisconsin game happened and all those good feelings went away. He only completed 41% of his passes and looked disjointed against the first solid defense he faced. As a result, he now finds himself in the bottom half of ESPN's latest ranking of all 68 FBS QBs.
In their latest list,ESPN ranked Rocco Becht 40thout of all 68 starting QBs at the FBS level. It is a harsh reality for Becht after the tough start, but
perhaps warranted after the performance he put forth against the Badgers. Bill Connelly writes of Becht, "After torching three bad defenses to start the season, Becht faced Wisconsin, played iffy at first (5.0 yards per dropback in the first three quarters) and collapsed down the stretch (2.3 per dropback in the fourth). That's not incredibly encouraging -- nor is a No. 75 ranking in third-down conversions -- but Becht has enough of a track record that we'll still assume some level of upside".
What most Penn State fans must be frustrated about is rightly the bizarre loss, but specifically concerning this list, they should also be concerned about Becht's standing amongst his Big Ten peers. Eleven Big Ten quarterbacks rank ahead of Becht on this list, including guys like Hank Brown at 39, Bryce Underwood at 33, Ryan Browne at 32, and evenKatin Houser at 16, who all could be seen as more game managers than efficient leaders of their teams. For Becht's status to fall that low after one loss is major. But the one that really stings is the QB that Becht essentially replaced.
Former Penn State QB Ethan Grunkemeyer, now with Virginia Tech, ranks 25th on the list. Most importantly, both he and James Franklin have the Hokies sitting at 4-0 in the ACC with a chance to play spoilers to several contenders in the conference. That can't feel good for Penn State fans who potentially believed that Grunkemeyer could be an effective Big Ten starter.
Still, it is early in the season, the list is relative, and Becht has a chance to rise higher on the list. However, he must prove he can erase that tough Big Ten opening loss out of his mind and connect with his receivers fast.
This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Penn State QB in bottom half of ESPN's college football QB rankings
