Penn State Starts Off New Era With Blowout Victory
Tagged under: Penn State, Scores
Jacob Steinberg | September 6, 2026
University Park– There were many questions surrounding the Matt Campbell era, and while all were not answered on Saturday, there was a ton to be excited about following Penn State’s domination over Marshall, 45-0.
In front of 108,489 loud Penn State fans who filled West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium in a stripe out theme, the new and improved offense totaled 487 yards, including 324 through the air. Former Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht impressed in his Nittany Lions debut, throwing for 271 yards and four Touchdowns. He only completed 13 passes, but came up big when his
number was called upon.
From the jump it was all Nittany Lions as Penn State opened the scoring on their opening drive with a 38-yard field goal by Ryan Baker following a six play possession.
The defense will go slightly unnoticed in this game because the offense put up a whopping 45 points, but they held Marshall to just 147 total yards, and only gave up one third-down conversion. Lead by Tony Rojas, the defense forced 6 three-and-outs, including on the opening series by the Thundering Herd.
Penn State got the football back and only neede
d two minutes to find the back of the end zone. Following a 13-yard pass and two short runs, Rocco Becht found Koby Howard for a 42-yard touchdown to put the home team up 10-0.
One again, Marshall went three-and-out and Penn State was on the move for the third time in the opening quarter. This time, they only needed 2 minutes and 27 seconds to add on to their lead. Howard caught two passes for 39 yards on the drive, and following a rush by James Peoples, Brett Eskildsen caught and ran for a 25-yard touchdown to put the Nittany Lions up 17-0.
The Thundering Herd in need of an answer, went on a nine play drive- but only totaling 21 yards. After back-to-back six-yard pick ups, Marshall lost five yards on a run, then two more, and quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson got sacked on third down, but fortunate for him, the defense was called for holding- just one of four penalties committed by Penn State. Then, Marshall gained four yards on a run by sophomore back Judah Price, got called for holding, had an incompletion, and only picked up two yards on a third-and-six. Nine plays, four minutes, only 21 yards.
The first quarter closed with Penn State leading Marshall 17-0.
The second quarter was a tail of two halves. The first six minutes combined with four punts- two by each team- and the last six featured the longest possessions by both teams. Following the fourth punt of the quarter and fifth by Marshall, Rocco Becht found Eskildsen for a 12-yard reception on third-and-thirteen. This set up the first real decision for Matt Campbell, where he decided to keep the offense out on their own 22-yard line for a fourth-and-one. The decision paid off, as senior back Carson Hansen ran for 10 yards which set up the rest of the drive for Penn State.
Becht, from his own 36, found Howard who ran all the way to the opposite 22, for a pickup of 42 yards. Following three straight runs and a few timeouts, Benjamin Brahmer received an eight-yard touchdown which put Penn State up 24-0.
Marshall received the ball back with one minute-18 seconds remaining in the half. With only one timeout left in Coach Gibson’s back pocket, Rio-Wilson completed four consecutive passes, threw an incompletion, and a false start was called on the offense. Now down to 15 seconds, the senior completed an 11-yard pass to tight end Toby Payne and Marshall called time out. This set up the first chance for Marshall to get on the board, a 52-yard field goal attempt by Jorge Diaz Nicolas. With minimal time on the clock, he was set to make the kick, but Matt Campbell called time and the icing worked, as Nicolas missed the kick badly and Marshall was blanked in the first half.
Penn State took a 24-0 lead heading into the locker rooms.
Quarter three was completely one-sided. Penn State added on with two scores, while Marshall punted twice and turned the ball over on downs once. The Nittany Lions had another big drive, going 74 yards in just four plays. It was capped off with a 39-yard touchdown from Becht to Zay Robinson. After Marshall failed to convert on fourth down, Penn State continued to add on, this time with their backups. Matt Campbell brought in freshman Alex Manske to take over for Becht, who ended his first game with the blue and white with 271 passing yards and four passing touchdowns.
Howard remained in the game, catching a 12-yard pass and a 26-yard pass from the freshman to put Penn State in enemy territory. Sophomore running back Quinton Martin Jr. found himself in the game, and two plays later into the end zone which put Penn State up 38-0.
Marshall would punt their next drive, and Penn State responded with seven straight handoffs between Cam Wallace, Peoples, and Martin to run out the third quarter.
Three quarters were in the books with the home team up 38-0.
The opening drive of the fourth saw the Nittany Lions continue on the ground, continuing to rely on redshirt sophomore Quinton Martin Jr. The drive stalled and Penn State punted after a 12 play, 44-yard possession.
Redshirt senior Zion Turner appeared into the game for the first time, and on his first pass, he threw an interception to Bryson Williams to give the ball back to the Nittany Lions. Six plays and three minutes later, Penn State would go on to score their second rushing touchdown of the game, as Wallace goes for six yards and his first touchdown of the season making the score now 45-0 in favor of the Nittany Lions.
Both teams continued to rotate bench players in and traded punts mid-way through the fourth quarter. Marshall ran with Anthony Quinn Jr. to start their final possession, but he ran into a wall of hungry lions, fumbling the ball to freshman Jackson Ford.
Ultimately, Penn State ran out the games final three minutes and did not have to stress one bit en route to their first win of the season.
The game ended with Penn State winning in a crushing defeat, 45-0 over Marshall.
Everything you want to see from week 1 came to fruition for Penn State. Rocco Becht led the way with four passing touchdowns, Koby Howard had 161 receiving yards plus a touchdown, and the offensive line held up sturdy, only allowing one sack.
Defensively, anytime you can pitch a shutdown, there is something to be proud of. Penn State held Marshall to just 147 yards of offense, only 44 on the ground. They were able to create 3 turnovers, force eight punts, five three-and-outs, and only one third down conversion.
If there is one thing to nit pick on, it would be that the run game will need to be better if Penn State wants to make a run for the College Football Playoffs. But for right now, they can rely on a combination between Hansen, Wallace, and Martin, who combined for 128 of the 163 rushing yards.
All in all, this was a dominant victory for Penn State against a lower opponent. However, in years past playing a lower ranked team would cause trouble for the Nittany Lions. But not today.
Matt Campbell starts the new era at Penn State with a victory. And this year already feels a little different when you can dominate a team just like that.
