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Penn State is Going to be Just Fine with Rocco Becht, a Good Portal Class, and a Weak Schedule
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The big college football story on Action News, which happened during the Eagles game on Sunday, was the transfer of Rocco Becht to Penn State, following Matt Campbell from Iowa State.
He’s the son of Anthony Becht, the Delco native and Bonner alum who was a first round pick out of WVU and went on to play 11 NFL seasons with five different teams.
More importantly, the younger Becht can really sling it. He started the last three seasons for ISU, posting career numbers of 9,272 passing yards, 64 touchdowns, 27 interceptions, and a 60.7 completion percentage. He is not a dual-threat quarterback, but has 19 career TDs on the ground and can really move when he has to. He’s 6’1″ and about 210 pounds, so more Sean Clifford than Drew Allar, but he throws a nice ball and has a snappy and quick release. Move him outside of the pocket and he can throw on the run as well. He’s pretty tough for his size and will take a hit and will scramble for yards and make some off-schedule plays.
Is he a good fit for a Big 10 team? We’ll find out, because the defenses are better and the games muddier. This isn’t the wide-open Big 12 of years past, but this transfer makes a lot of sense for coach and quarterback continuity, while Ethan Grunkemeyer follows James Franklin to VPI.
Speaking of Franklin, who took a bunch of recruits to Blacksburg with him, Penn State recovered with a strong portal class, which is currently ranked #1 at 247 sports.
The commit list includes a half-dozen four-star players and 14 three-star players, a number of them following Campbell from Ames. In addition to Becht, the other four star transfers are:
- ISU receiver Chase Sowell (500 yards, 2 TDs in 2025)
- ISU safety Marcus Neal Jr. (a baller, Cyclone fans are really annoyed by his departure)
- UCLA DT Keanu Williams (had a season-ending injury in 2024, 39 tackles this year)
- ISU tight end Ben Brahmer (6 touchdown receptions this past year, huge 6’7″ TE)
- ISU linebacker Caleb Bacon (senior, 68 tackles and 9.5 TFL in 2025)
This isn’t going to be the stacked team of two years ago that went to the CFP semifinal, but Campbell is going to have plenty to work with in year one.
Which brings us to the final point:
This is not a difficult schedule for PSU. They open with Marshall at home and then play Temple at the Linc. The Owls started out well this season under K.C. Keeler, but lost four in a row to miss out on a bowl game, so while there was a little bit of “hey maybe they battle PSU next year” going on, that died down pretty quickly. From there, it’s Buffalo in Happy Valley to close out the non-conference slate, which should be 3-0.
The Big 10 road games are Michigan, Maryland, Washington, and Northwestern. They get Minnesota, Purdue, Rutgers, Wisconsin, and USC at home. They do not play Ohio State, Indiana, Oregon, or Iowa. They don’t even have to play Iowa or Nebraska. There’s no reason why this team can’t go 9-3 or even 10-2.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com