This Spring marked the first practices for a new era of Penn State Nittany Lions football with Matt Campbell coming over to be their new head coach. Coming along with Campbell were several key players from the Iowa State Cyclones, including quarterback Rocco Becht.
Despite being the presumed starter, Becht came to Penn State with several injuries that he was dealing with. That included injuries to both of his shoulders. That’s kept him limited this Spring, but Campbell is confident that he’ll be good to go soon.
“He’ll be ready to rock and roll,” Campbell said. “I think the fact that we’ve gotten this much out of him was way ahead of where we thought we would have been. So I think that’s really big for him.”
The Path Rocco Becht Took to get to the Penn State Nittany Lions
GettyARLINGTON, TEXAS – DECEMBER 07: Rocco Becht #3 of the Iowa State Cyclones warms up before the the Big 12 Championship game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at AT&T Stadium on December 07, 2024 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)
Rocco Becht is now entering his first season with Penn State, having transferred in from Iowa State. He had chosen to go to play for Matt Campbell and the Cyclones over offers from Ole Miss and Wake Forest, among others.
At the time, Becht was a three-star recruit, according to Rivals. He had been the 36th-ranked quarterback in his recruiting class.
After taking a redshirt in 2022, only playing in three games, Becht was thrown into the fire in 2023. A gambling scandal resulted in quarterback Hunter Dekkers being suspended, forcing Becht into action. It could have been an overwhelming situation, but he rose to the challenge and was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year.
Becht would go on to play in a total of 42 games for Iowa State, completing 60.7% of his passes for 9,274 yards and 64 touchdowns to 27 interceptions. On top of that, he rushed for 499 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Following the 2025 season, Campbell left Iowa State for Penn State, and Becht would be the biggest name to enter the Transfer Portal to follow him. With a total of 19 Cyclones making that move, there are plenty of players who have familiarity with him in Happy Valley. There’s also plenty of new players for Becht to get to know, though, and even with injury issues, Campbell has seen him working on that.
“Every day you pass here at four o’clock and he’s got the entire receiving core, tight end core, meeting with those guys and going over practice,” Campbell said.
Penn State Has a Brand New Quarterback Room
GettySTATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA – SEPTEMBER 6: The Penn State Nittany Lions mascot performs during the game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the FIU Panthers at Beaver Stadium on September 6, 2025 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images)
After the coaching change, Penn State saw a massive turnover across its roster, including in the quarterback room. Longtime starter Drew Allar is on to the NFL. Meanwhile, Ethan Grunkemeyer followed previous head coach James Franklin to Virginia Tech. Other quarterbacks on the team a year ago, like Jaxon Smolik and Bekkem Kritza, also transferred out.
Rocco Becht highlighted the incoming transfers to the quarterback room, but he’s not alone. Alex Manske, who also played for Iowa State, made the move to Penn State too. Then, Connor Barry made the jump from Division III. On top of that, Penn State has incoming freshmen Peyton Falzone and Kase Evans on the roster.
In all of this, Becht is the only quarterback who has proven himself at the FBS level before. With one year of eligibility, he’ll look to leave his mark on the Penn State program.
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