Penn State QB Rocco Becht Shines Again as Nittany Lions Go 2-0

The Penn State Nittany Lions were able to grab another win in Week 2 of the new college football season, starting the year off 2-0.

Penn State took down Temple 27-9, giving head coach Matt Campbell another win to open his tenure. But the story of the game was the play from quarterback Rocco Becht, reminding everyone that he is a top player in the sport.

Becht threw for 273 yards and three touchdowns against the Owls, leading Penn State to the win. The Penn State signal-caller was coming off a 271-yard and four touchdown performance in Week 1 against Marshall.

Becht was a Heisman Trophy candidate coming into last season with Iowa State. But injuries limited him, and the quarterback put together an underwhelming year.

With the Cyclones last season, Becht played in 12 games, throwing for 2584 yards with 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions. In his breakout 2024 season, Becht threw for 3505 yards with 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

But coming into this year with Penn State, Becht felt better than he had in a long time. The veteran quarterback said he was healthy, and it has shown on the field.

“I feel healthy 100 percent again, so I feel like I'm back to my 2024 self,” Becht said. “I just want to go out there and play ball and win a lot of games for this program.”

If Becht can keep playing in this manner, the Nittany Lions could be a sleeper team this coming season. Penn State will see tougher matchups on the schedule later in the season, but Becht gives them a chance to dominate each time out.

“It's just the same preparation, same guy every single day, no matter where I am, where I'm playing,” Becht said. “I'm gonna be the same dude, prep the same, lead the same way. Again, I might have a couple butterflies walking out of the tunnel with 106,000 [fans], but that's part of the game. That's part of the game of football. I'm gonna embrace it. I'm gonna take it all in, and then I'm gonna lock in and get this team ready to roll.”

Coming to Iowa State, Becht took a risk. But he trusted Campbell, and now the duo has the Nittany Lions looking like a potential Big Ten contender.

With the win against Temple, Penn State extended its all-time series lead over the Owls to 41-4-1. The Nittany Lions will try to move to 3-0 in the new season next week when they host Buffalo.