Penn State QB Rocco Becht wasn’t here for the James Franklin era.
Franklin’s firing last October led to Matt Campbell becoming Penn State’s new boss, which led to Becht becoming Penn State’s QB, as he previously played for Campbell at Iowa State.
But just because Becht wasn’t at PSU for the end of the Franklin era doesn’t mean he doesn’t have an idea of what went wrong.
Several of Becht’s teammates are returning to PSU from last year, which means they had a front-row seat to Penn State turning from national title favorites to a 3-6 operation. So when Becht mentioned some of the issues that plagued PSU before his arrival, he did so with a basis.
WHAT BECHT SAID
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now: Rocco Becht
“[Penn State] had a mindset going up against an FCS school, and they had a different mindset going up against a top team in the country,” Becht said earlier this month. “So right now, what Coach Campbell and myself are trying to instill into players is having that same mentality, game in and game out, and acting like you’re playing a top-tier program every week.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.
HE ISN’T WRONG
Even if Becht didn’t have teammates who were in the room where it happened, he would be right to say the above quote. The numbers are all there. If Becht didn’t have teammates who were a part of it, he would still have a point.
Under Franklin, Penn State went nine seasons without losing an out-of-conference game (multiple against the “FCS schools” Becht alluded to.
Against top-10 teams, they went 4-21.
Becht is set to start his first game at Penn State Sept. 5 against Marshall.
Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 on FS1.
