Note: This is the second in a three-part series previewing several aspects of Penn State’s 2026 football season. You can see part one here.
There were a lot of moments where things went from bad to worse during last season.
Many of them happened within the final hours of Sept. 27 inside Beaver Stadium.
You were there. I don’t need to tell you that.
But I think the moment things really went from bad to worse last season came after the loss to Oregon in overtime.
A few days prior to Penn State taking on UCLA, linebacker Tony Rojas suffered a torn ACL. The promising linebacker was unable to stack a season on his strong sophomore year where had three interceptions, including arguably the most memorable (positive) play of the 2024 season.
By the time Penn State took the Rose Bowl’s pristine field that Saturday, it was obvious just how much he was missing from the defense, and from there, I don’t need to tell you just how much worse things went.
In 2026, however – even after some close calls according to some leaked audio – Rojas is back. Maybe he won’t be 100 percent in his return season. But I’d take Penn State football with him on the roster than Penn State football without him on the roster any day of the week.
Revisionist history and limited sample size would suggest Penn State’s defense was better in 2025 when Rojas was on the field. Penn State gave up an average of 274 yards per game in the first four games of 2025. In its final nine games of the season, Penn State gave up 350 yards per outing. That includes 533 against Rutgers, the most in a regular-season game that Penn State has given up since 2022. But there were times in those initial games that Rojas played in that felt uncomfortable to watch Penn State’s defense.
There were more problems with Penn State’s defense beyond the fact that it didn’t have Rojas for those final nine games. Jim Knowles’ defense was far too complicated for an all-in year – and may not have been the right personnel fit based on what Penn State had at hand. The defense was designed around star players – or rather a star player managing the game almost as a quarterback.
It never had that.
And it’s hard to argue that Rojas wouldn’t have been exactly that. Penn State’s season took a turn last year when Rojas tore his ACL. It might be the point in last season that gets forgotten about – maybe rightfully so with what really transpired – that dashed Penn State’s College Football Playoff hopes in the early weeks of fall. It was obvious when UCLA – who was playing under an interim coach with nothing to lose – thrashed the Nittany Lions in the first half. Penn State could not get a single stop it needed that day, and it dug a hole too deep for its relatively inept offense to figure out.
But that will have to be left in the past. In the future – or rather present – Rojas becomes the centerpiece on a defense that is patched together with pieces old and new.
Matt Campbell brought Marcus Neal with him, a top safety in the Big 12 and one of the team leaders in tackles in 2025. Working around Rojas will be Caleb Bacon and Kooper Ebel, who round out the top tacklers that Campbell at least has back in 2026.
Penn State has beefed up on the defensive line as well. Its average weight at tackle position in 2025 was 296 pounds. In 2026, it will be at least 305 pounds, including Siale Taupaki and Dallas Vakalahi at 326 pounds each.
That has been an intentional decision by Campbell and his new defense coordinator D’Anton Lynn, himself long sought after by James Franklin.
And it will be Lynn’s responsibility to stitch together the 21 defensive transfers on this roster. His ability to do more with less is what got him from UCLA to USC back to State College so quickly. He essentially turned the Bruins defense around overnight – enough that it caught the attention of their crosstown rival.
But it gets a bit easier with a guy like Rojas as a piece he can work with. Even if Rojas is not back to 100 percent, although indications appear to be that he is, Penn State is a better team with him on it than one without him.
What Penn State can get out of him this year will be the biggest piece in Penn State’s defensive success.
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