There is a reason Matt Campbell wanted to bring Rocco Becht from Iowa State to Penn State once he took over as the head coach in Happy Valley. Becht gave Campbell and Penn State an experienced starter at the most important position on the football field, and that veteran presence was shining in the season opener against Marshall.
Becht passed for 271 yards and four touchdowns to four different wide receivers in Penn State's 45-0 victory over the Thundering Herd. With Becht leading the offense, Penn State put points on the scoreboard on each of their first three possessions in the first quarter. Becht took advantage of his existing chemistry that carried over with a handful of former Iowa State teammates like Brett Eskildsen, Chase Sowell, and tight
end Ben Brahmer (all three caught one of Becht's touchdown passes), and he may have found a new favorite go-to target in Koby Howard, who had a game-high 161 receiving yards.
"I thought Rocco was really efficient today in terms of, you were getting eight, nine guys in the box, you were getting a lot of pressure," Campbell said when discussing Becht's performance in Week 1. "I didn’t know exactly what to expect, and I think for Rocco to be able to handle that and distribute the ball, sometimes being a great quarterback is like being a great point guard, you got to be a great distributor of where the ball needs to go, and I thought he was outstanding today."
The success of the passing game, including when backup quarterback Alex Manske came in to relieve Becht in the second half, helped make up for a pretty slow start for the running game. Penn State had just 62 rushing yards at halftime and never seemed to find cracks for some big gains on the ground. The rushing yardage piled up a bit more in the second half as the bench started getting some time on the field. Carson Hansen led the Nittany Lions with 48 rushing yards and Cam Wallace picked up 47 yards once he got some playing time in the second half with the game well in hand.
A slow day on the ground from the starters didn't seem to bother Campbell too much in his postgame press conference, although it will certainly be something to watch in the coming weeks. But as long as the football is moving down the field, Campbell seems satisfied with the end result.
"When we were pass protecting, we did a great job, so hats off to those guys, but again, offensively, I don’t really care how it happens," Campbell said in his postgame press conference. "I just care that the ball’s going where it should go and be efficient, and I thought that’s what happened."
Penn State will hit the road for the first time under Campbell's leadership in Week 2. Penn State travels to Philadelphia to take on Temple on Saturday, Sept. 12. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET.
This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Matt Campbell praises QB Rocco Becht after Penn State debut
