Penn State offensive lineman Cooper Cousins stayed on the field, hands on his hips, waiting for the scoreboard in the new Ryan Field to show a replay of what happened. Quarterback Rocco Becht had just thrown another ball into traffic for his second interception of the game, giving the ball back to Northwestern to run the clock out on a nightmarish night for Penn State.
Maybe Cousins was hoping the ball had hit the ground and the Nittany Lions would have one last chance Friday down 34-13. Or maybe he couldn’t believe the Nittany Lions were about to be 0-2 in Big Ten play after an offseason of hope in a new era for Penn State.
It didn’t matter which it was. The replay showed the Northwestern defender brought the ball in and cemented that Penn State would remain winless in Big Ten play under head coach Matt Campbell — leaving plenty of questions about where this team, and this program, go from here.
This was not supposed to be how the season went for Penn State, or Cousins, who was searching for solutions postgame after being told Campbell took the blame for the loss during his own press conference.
“It’s on everybody, top down,” Cousins said. “He can say it’s on himself. But being one offensive leader on this team, I put it on myself as well. Maybe I got to get up even earlier. Maybe I got to get more guys with me in the morning. Maybe we got to come together as an offense on our own. Maybe we got to start doing a little bit more.
“I think we’re in a good spot. I don’t think it’s anybody’s fault. I think we have a great coaching staff. We have a great program that surrounds us, and I think we’re ready to go. So I don’t think it’s really anybody’s fault. I don’t think it’s a leadership fault. I think we just have to come in this next week and focus on our process, and we’ll be fine.”
Maybe it will be. But it wasn’t supposed to go like this.
This team may not have been as talented as previous iterations, but it had a favorable schedule. There was supposed to be a path to a playoff berth for Campbell in his first year that could set up the trajectory of the program for years.
All of that is gone now. There is little reason to believe this team can get to eight wins, let alone 10. And it’s not just that this team is losing. It’s how it’s losing. Friday night was a complete no-show. The loss to Wisconsin the week prior included blowing a 17-0 lead.
Campbell often speaks of the standard of playing for and coaching at Penn State. Friday night, he said that wasn’t being met. And he said it with his head down and the muscles in his neck tensing up as each word came out. The only question now is, why isn’t it being met?
“Those are all things that I wish I had the magic answer (for) right now, to be quite honest with you,” Campbell said postgame. “I think, like I said, the reality of tonight is they controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football. And when you do that, it doesn’t matter what league or what game it is, you really put yourself at a great advantage to dictate the pace of the game. And they did it from the start of the game to the finish of the game.
“And, again, we got to find great answers to get it fixed, and it starts with the head football coach. And we work really hard to have better answers than what I’m giving you right now.”
It’s not just the physicality at the line of scrimmage. There are issues elsewhere, most notably with Becht. The veteran quarterback has been Campbell’s starter at the position for four straight years. And there haven’t been many stretches of play as bad as the last two weeks for him.
He was indecisive. His passes were errant. He couldn’t get into a rhythm. And it’s not as if there weren’t plays to be made. The team’s pass-catchers were frequently running open, but Becht couldn’t hit them. Even when he did, he didn’t put the ball in a place where they could create more yardage.
His play was poor enough that it could have merited a change, especially with a young and talented backup in Alex Manske — and especially in what now looks like a lost season. But that was never really considered, according to Campbell.
“I think Rocco’s proven that he can work through a football game where it’s not perfect …,” Campbell said. “And the fact of the matter of it is, Rocco’s a winner. He’s won a lot of football games, and he’s had to work through really hard situations. And we’re kind of in one of those right now. And so his leadership and his ability to navigate the rough waters right now will be, I think, a testament to him as we get ourselves out of it.”
The path forward only gets harder for Penn State. Next week is the White Out against USC and its elite offense. The week after is a road matchup with a Michigan team that is even more physical in the trenches than Northwestern. It’s fair to wonder if those games will even be competitive at this point.
And if they aren’t, the Nittany Lions will be staring down a 3-4 start that includes four straight Big Ten losses — a worse start than the one James Franklin had last season that got him fired.
As Campbell said, there isn’t an easy answer to any of what’s going wrong. The Nittany Lions are certainly trying. There is effort on both sides of the ball and adjustments being made — like bringing defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn down from the booth to the sideline for the second half.
But, Friday night, that wasn’t enough. It’s hard to imagine what would have been enough.
This is a talented team, with talented players. Just not as talented as expected. And maybe that’s just it. Maybe an 8-4 team with a 12-0 schedule still has to scratch and claw its way to 8-4.
The Nittany Lions can still do that. There just isn’t much reason to believe they will.
And if they don’t, those outside the program will continue to wonder how a program that was in the College Football Playoff semifinals in 2024 could fall so quickly.
And wonder if there’s any hope that it can recover.
Centre Daily Times
Jon Sauber covers Penn State football and men’s basketball for the Centre Daily Times. He earned his B.A. in digital and print journalism from Penn State and his M.A. in sports journalism from IUPUI. His previous stops include jobs at The Indianapolis Star, the NCAA, and Rivals.
Source: www.centredaily.com
