This is one in a series of stories breaking down each of the players on Penn State Football’s 2026 roster.
Almost every team in major college football has started a transfer QB at some point within the last five years, and Rocco Becht will be the first to do it at Penn State.
In the transfer portal era, Sean Clifford (2021-2022) and Drew Allar (2023-25) have been Penn State’s starters, and both of them were recruited the “traditional” way out of high school.
Becht is coming to Penn State after four seasons with another program.
By the end of 2025, Becht had become one of the faces of Iowa State football.
But when coach Matt Campbell took the Penn State job, people immediately figured that he’d take Becht with him.
That’s what ended up happening.
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 209 pounds
Hometown: Wesley Chapel, Florida
High School: Becht came to Iowa State after a standout career at Wiregrass Ranch High School.
For three of those seasons, he was the starting QB, and by the end of his career, he was the best quarterback statistically in program history, ending his career with program records for passing yards, completions and passing touchdowns.
Becht was one of the better QB prospects in the country coming out of high school, with Rivals ranking him as the No. 13 pro-style QB.
He committed to Iowa State in April 2021 and signed in December.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.2022: Becht redshirted his first college season, appearing in three games and ending the year 7-for-15 for 65 yards.
2023: Becht became Iowa State’s starter, and ended the year a near three-to-one ratio with 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Becht added 3,210 yards passing and a 62.9 completion percentage, which is the highest of his college career.
2024: Becht led Iowa State to within a game of the College Football Playoff, taking it to the Big 12 Championship, where it fell to Cam Skattebo and Arizona State. Individually, Becht set a career high in yards (3,505) and touchdowns (25), completing 59.4% of his passes.
Last year: Iowa State was supposed to be right in the Big 12 title mix again, but it didn’t happen that way, and a lot of it was due to injuries to several key players, Becht being one of them. Although he played in all 12 games, Becht was hurting due to a torn labrum that required surgery after the season.
That surgery led to Becht being limited for Penn State during spring practice, and will be something to monitor throughout 2026, even if there’s no indication that Becht won’t be ready to roll for fall camp.
All things considered, Becht’s 2025 numbers (2,584 yards, 16 TD, 9 INT) were respectable.
Where he stands: There will be no QB controversy in Happy Valley this fall. Becht is the guy, and barring anything unforeseen, that’s that. The question is how productive Becht will be.
For at least one national analyst, Becht is a Heisman dark horse.
“Becht started 39 games at Iowa State and earned 26 wins,” ESPN’s Heather Dinich wrote earlier this month. “He led seven game-winning drives during that span. Last year, Becht threw for 2,584 yards and 16 touchdowns while adding 116 yards and eight TDs rushing. With nonconference games against Marshall, Temple and Buffalo, plus early Big Ten matchups against Wisconsin and Northwestern, Penn State has a good chance to be undefeated heading into its Oct. 10 home showdown against USC. If the Nittany Lions can make a surprise CFP run in Campbell’s first season, Becht’s Heisman hopes could skyrocket.”
A quote by Becht: “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. And I think bringing that over the Penn State was the best thing that happened.
“Talking to all the Penn State players that have stayed, they tend to 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.” — Becht to reporters in February
A quote about Becht: “His heart rate’s probably 60 beats per minute. Super composed.
“He’s a guy you want to play with. He’s a guy you want to be your QB. We all know how he plays and how good he is.” — Penn State TE Gabe Burkle, who played with Becht at Iowa State, to reporters in February.
