Penn State QB Rocco Becht has been awesome to begin the Penn State era of his college football career.
It's safe to say that Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht is doing all right in his transition from Iowa State to Penn State. So far, through three games, Becht is playing at such an elite clip for the Nittany Lions.
He doesn't have top-tier yards compared to the rest of the NCAA, but he does have the fourth-best quarterback rating in the country. As it stands as of week three, Becht is completing 70.4 percent of his passes for 751 yards and nine touchdowns to zero interceptions. That statline is good for a quarterback rating of 215.0, which trails Darian Mensah (229.1), Josh Hoover (243.9), and Gunnar Stockton (159.6).
Becht has transitioned from Iowa State to Penn State with flying colors, and he is a major reason that the Nittany Lions are 3-0, feeling like they might have an opportunity to make a run at the College Football Playoffs.
Two things can be true, and two things are true in this scenario. Becht has been awesome so far, but he hasn't had any real competition up to this point. He has faced Marshall, Temple, and Buffalo so far, and he has crushed them all.
Now, he must step his game all the way up this weekend. The Nittany Lions are welcoming the Wisconsin Badgers to Happy Valley for a showdown between two teams that feel like they need to win this football game.
These two teams are absolutely on the same tier within the Big Ten. They are usually frisky enough to compete with the likes of Ohio State and Indiana, but they really compete with the Michigans, each other, Nebraskas, Iowas, and so on.
They both get the opportunity to show their fan bases that they are legit this year and that they are worthy of being taken seriously at the national level.
It is going to be a game that the Nittany Lions need to bring their best. Even though the Badgers have struggled over the past couple of seasons, they are playing for their head coach, whose seat is absolutely warming up. A loss on Saturday would turn Luke Fickell's seat all the way up. A win, on the other hand, would cool it off considerably.
Saturday is an inflection point for both programs. For the Nittany Lions, if they slip up here, everyone will say, 'I told ya so,' and continue watching the serious teams in college football. If they win, now the Nittany Lions will have a compelling argument to be one of the best teams in the country.
Thanks to Rocco Becht, they are in the conversation. He has been elite this year and will be a major reason that the Nittany Lions will have a great chance to win on Saturday.
