We have a whole new era in Happy Valley, as Drew Allar, James Franklin, and many others are all gone. New quarterback Rocco Becht is expected to be the guy, outside of something drastic happening, and it sounds like not only is he a great player, but he’s making an impact on others around him.
Cooper Cousins, who recently spoke about the impact Becht has had since arriving in Happy Valley, had nothing but great things to say about him. If this is how all players feel about him, the vibes are definitely high in State College.
“Rocco is awesome,” Cousins said. “He feels like a Penn State quarterback. Rocco’s great. Everyone loves Rocco. I don’t think there’s one thing bad about the guy that you can. It’s like Mr. All-American. He’s awesome.”
Becht himself pointed to the culture as a major factor in how he’s navigating the transition. After coming from Iowa State, and many following him, including head coach Matt Campbell, he feels like that culture is coming over to Penn State.
“I felt like the culture that we had at Iowa State was awesome, and that was just built off the past four years of what we’ve done,” Becht told the York Daily Record. “And I think bringing that over to Penn State was the best thing that happened.
“Talking to all the Penn State players that have stayed, they tell me that they feel a sort of change in the locker room, in the facility. And I’m just happy to hear that, because I was trying to come in and not really step on anybody’s toes, but just get used to everything and get to know guys. And they’ve kind of just opened arms and brought us all in.”
For Penn State, this season has to be a good one. Not that it has to win a National Championship, but if Penn State struggles, the noise will get loud after moving on from Franklin. I don’t suspect that will happen, but I would’ve said the same thing last year.
Hopefully, this is a sign of what’s to come for the Nittany Lions.