Matt Campbell Tries to Talk Penn State Fans Off the Ledge

What would coach Matt Campbell say to the Penn State fans who were upset — and angry, disappointed, devastated, flabbergasted — after the Nittany Lions blew a 17-0 lead to Wisconsin, then lost to the Badgers in the final seconds on Saturday night in Beaver Stadium.

On Wednesday, I gave the first-year Penn State head coach the chance.

On a typical game week, Campbell would have been face-to-face to with Penn State fans at his weekly radio program, held Tuesdays at The Field in State College. However, given the short week because Penn State plays at Northwestern on Friday night, Campbell opted out of the show. Instead, his spot was filled by football GM Derek Hoodjer.

The question did not come up in his regular, rather lengthy press conference on Tuesday. So, at his brief Wednesday media session with local media — it lasted a tad over five minutes — I saw this as Campbell’s first and last chance to speak directly to fans’ emotions.

I asked Campbell, “The loss on Saturday has a lot of Penn State fans on edge. Anything you can say to them to talk them off the ledge?”

Campbell, a savvy 15-year veteran of these pressers, started smiling even before I was able to get the full question out of my mouth. He knew where this was headed. And he seemed to embrace the opportunity to talk directly to a frazzled Nittany Nation. Here’s his 147-word reply, in its entirety:

“I do not know what I can say, other than do, right?” Campbell started.

“I think the biggest thing that we believe is: A, we believe in our staff. B, we believe in our players. And C, I believe in a process.

“You evaluate your team at the end of the football season. Did you reach your full potential? Did you become who you had the ability to be? And every opportunity is a chance to grow. The great teams in college football have the ability to grow each week.

“And I think that will be a great test for this group this week, right?” Campbell continued, referencing the Northwestern game. “Our opportunity to take what we learned last week and move and grow ourselves forward. I think the fact that everybody in this facility has absolute belief in who we are and where we got the ability to go, we’re excited to grow forward.”

So, how will Campbell & Co. react to the collapse against Wisconsin on Friday, when they take the field at 8 p.m. Eastern (FOX TV) in the first game-ever in Northwestern’s $900 million new stadium, Ryan Field? We’ll find out.

We do know this: In his last five seasons at Iowa State (2021-25), Campbell’s teams were 12-12 after a loss — not counting season-ending losses.