Box Score
Even on a gameday, all throughout the west side and its $700 million renovation, there are signs that Penn State is building something.
There are the obvious unfinished areas, glowing in fluorescent lighting. There is clear plastic dropcloth, sectioning off what will become suites. There is literal construction dust everywhere, and there are remnants of a job site with toolboxes waiting for the workers’ returns on Mondays. All of which is evidence in the fact that Penn State is building Beaver Stadium toward a new future.
But with Penn State’s football team, there is no evidence that it is building right now and the proof of that came in the form of a 31-23 loss to USC on Saturday night, the Nittany Lions third straight after opening the season 3-0.
Coaches are supposed to build programs – even when they inherit one that, all things considered, was in a better spot than most nationally. The build process also takes time. At some schools, it’s a slow process. At other schools, like Indiana, coaches can speed run through the process.
For Penn State and Matt Campbell in 2026, there was a sense that Penn State could start the process faster. Campbell brought with him more than 40 transfers from an Iowa State team that went 8-4 last year. Most importantly, he brought his elder-by-college-standards quarterback, Rocco Becht, with him to play in the same system he has since 2022, particularly advantageous in both a conference and a sport where quarterback play is valued. Then Penn State had stacked up a schedule that offered particular ease through non-conference play and avoided many of the ranked powers of the Big Ten. After all, it was losses to teams like Ohio State, Michigan and Oregon that got the last guy fired.
Also available for Campbell was a vast well of resources that he previously did not have at Iowa State, including a $30 million-plus NIL budget for player recruitment and retention. That money was used to keep key pieces of Penn State’s defense, like its secondary and its star linebacker, Tony Rojas.
Those factors were all tools that Campbell would have given him to start to build his Penn State football program.
Throughout the offseason, it seemed as though Penn State was building something. Morale was reportedly high based on comments and quotes made play coaches and players. The team, full of two different worlds, was becoming a team of one. The vibes and feelings around this team were as positive as ever.
Those vibes even continued into the early part of the season, particularly in the season’s opening game when it felt like Penn State had turned a corner into a new era.
But when it reached Big Ten play, any semblance of an identity was gone. Against Wisconsin, Penn State could not manufacture drives in critical situations. Against Northwestern, Penn State played arguably its worst defense in 20-some years.
And on Saturday night against USC, Penn State could not put together an effort of 60-minute football that put them into a position to win the game. On defense, Penn State failed to create havoc against Jayden Maiava, which, on the back of the largest White Out crowd ever, allowed him to throw for 301 yards. On offense, Penn State played better than it has in its previous two outings but Becht and company failed to close out drives, stalling in critical moments. Its ground came continues be missing, picking up just 68 yards of rushing on Saturday night.
Most alarmingly was Penn State’s coaching, which caused the team to lose three timeouts in odd situations in the second half. One came from the fact that Penn State, who had the ball, didn’t sub fast enough, which allowed the Trojans to take their time subbing off. Another came on a critical 4th down, which was reminiscent of a situation against Wisconsin where Penn State burned a timeout out of a quarter break. And the last came when Penn State sent its punt recovery unit onto the field when USC kept its offense on to the field.
While there were pockets where Penn State played as the better team, Penn State’s inability to build momentum in the White Out was a wasted opportunity. Penn State’s defense, which is bigger than last year’s, does not appear to have the ability to get home on the pass rush. Its offense is still seeking an identity that isn’t panicked. Those are moments that are built in the offseason, and right now it feels like Penn State or its head coach can’t find the tools it needs to take care of any of that.
It’s not that Campbell doesn’t have them; it’s that Campbell seems to be unable to understand how to connect them. With that, at no point so far in the Campbell era has it looked like Penn State is building toward a future. If anything, it’s only spent time repairing the past. Campbell – and the athletic department in a similar vein – spent much of the 2026 offseason learning and understanding about Penn State football, including rehabilitating the relationship around Joe Paterno and his inward legacy at Penn State.
Though his emphasis was never directly on Paterno, Campbell leveraged the history and depth of Penn State’s lettermen to bridge that gap. That showed up in a clear way with the addition of “Success With Honor” above the team tunnel inside Beaver Stadium. It showed up in subtle ways, like Campbell’s white shoelaces.
For some fans, it was a long overdue acknowledgement of a past that is still a dividing factor in this fanbase. For other younger fans preparing for the future, it was a curious decision.
But much in the way Penn State came into the 2026 season with better vibes – and what appears to be nothing tangible to show for it now – that emphasis on connecting with the Paterno legacy has felt more of a repair than a build. Vibes and repairs only fix so much. Builds create foundations and right now, Penn State doesn’t have one in the Campbell era.
It then makes the Campbell choice even more curious because if Penn State wanted to only repair that relationship, then it could have just kept Terry Smith in place, removing the interim title, appeasing the pro-Paterno crowd, and likely kept more of a core of players that may be better suited for Big Ten, not Big 12, competition.
Instead, Campbell has not shown that Penn State is building something. It just exists in a space void of progress or direction. There is no momentum for the first season that can turn into momentum in a second season – at least right now. There is no optimism that this team will get this season – which very much feels like it’s in jeopardy of bowl eligibility – back on track.
While Penn State’s construction dust of its $700 million renovation showed yet again on Saturday night, it’s clear work has not been started on Penn State football’s future.
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