Penn State Football’s Identity? Déjà Poo All Over Again

Penn State football’s identity? We found it on Saturday, though it never went away: It’s an incredible fan base that turned out. Once again. After being punched in the stomach. Again and again. Only to be punched again.

Amazing fans, mid program…in disarray.

The Nittany Lions are now 10-10 in their last 20 games, beginning with The Pick against Notre Dame in the CFP. Then the mess that was an 0-3 start to the Big Ten by James Franklin, who was summarily fired. And that just was, somewhat amazingly, carbon-copied in the past 15 days, with a come-from-ahead loss to Wisconsin, an embarrassment at Cryin’ Field, then Saturday’s fade-out against USC.

Deja poo all over again.

That’s 3-9 in the Big Ten regular season in 2025 and ’26, if you’re counting. Doormatts. Meanwhile, PA native Bob Chesney — who grew up in Kulpmont, a 96.6-mile drive to Beaver Stadium — is on the West Coast, leading UCLA to a 5-0 start and a 17-15 win over Oregon. He had interviewed for the Penn State job that almost went to Kalani Sitake.

The Nittany Lions are just 1-5 in their last half-dozen Big Ten games in Beaver Stadium. Let that sink in. Yet, the Penn State faithful endure. In the biggest way possible. 114,419. That’s the way the cookie crumbls.

It was a record crowd at Beaver Stadium, showcased on national TV, with Todd Blackledge — who led the Nittany Lions to their first natty 44 years ago built on a miraculous 27-24 win against Nebraska — behind the mic.

Pat Kraft & Co. found enough seats, and put the tickets in the hands of thousands of on-the-fence fans (some of the tix were freebies, but what the hey), to create an all-time Beaver Stadium record crowd of 114,419 — the largest in the 415 games played in the homefield built in 1960. (And a remarkable 29,115 more fans than the then-record 85,304 that saw Blackledge beat the Huskers.)

Penn State fans rallied, Campbell and his team did not. Campbell, to his credit, felt bad about that after the game. Of course, credit also to Campbell’s bank account. On a pro-rated basis, at $821,000 per-game-coached, he’s made over $2.4 million over the course of this three-game losing streak.

“I think first of all, I would just say this again: I think the most disappointing part for me is that we can’t give this incredible fan base that has showed out – it was an unbelievable atmosphere and it was one of the most impressive environments that I’ve been able to coach in or be a part of – and I think my disappointment is, right now, we can’t give them the result that they deserve,” Campbell said. 

“But the reality is, we will, and we will find a pathway forward. …We’re not where we need to be yet, but we are growing forward, and we’ll demand a pathway forward because we’ve got such a great fanbase, and they deserve that.”

Campbell’s right: Penn State fans deserve better, and when Kraft fired Franklin he promised it to them. The Penn State athletic director said so almost exactly 365 days ago. Since then, it’s been a year to forget. Like, WhiteOut from our minds.

On Oct.13, 2025, Kraft said, “This is not a three-game thing. This really diving into where we were as a program. What is the trajectory of the program? And you all know, I am not shy to admit it: I’m here to win national championships.”

For Penn State football, that seems farther away than it’s been in a long time (says the guy who started writing about Penn State football in 1979, for the Daily Collegian). But, fans are being asked to not only endure, and show up in white and show out. But also pay out more than ever before.

The return? Another White Out loss. Thank you sir, may I have another?

Penn State has now lost all five of the games played before the top 5 biggest crowds in Beaver Stadium history. Three of the five have come in White Outs. And it’s not an Ohio State thing, either. Of the five losses, four have come against different teams. (Two of those teams have won what Kraft covets most — a national title — in the past three years.)

THE TOP 5

1. 114,419 – Oct. 10, 2026; USC 31, PSU 23. White Out
2. 111,030 – Nov. 2, 2024; Ohio State 20, Penn State 13
3. 111,015 – Sept. 27, 2025; Oregon 30, PSU 24 (2OT). White Out
4. 110,889 – Sept. 29, 2018; Ohio State 27, PSU 26. White Out
5. 110,856 – Nov. 11, 2023; Michigan 24, PSU 15

Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht gets it. After a horrible performance against Wisconsin and a bad game at Northwestern, he persevered and thanks to a ton of rollout action (21-32-289-1) and some gutsy runs (10-20), he kept Penn State in it against USC until the Nittany Lions weren’t.

“It’s the toughness, the discipline, it’s the ability to finish,” Becht said after the game. “Those things you can’t teach in practice. You can’t teach them in the film room. You have to come and do it on Saturdays. We’re just not doing that right now.

“It’s self-assessment. You have to look at yourself in the mirror [and say], ‘How bad do you want it?’ That’s where we’re at right now.”

BAD ENDING

Cases in point: When it mattered most, USC went TD, missed FG, TD, TD, TD, punt. And Penn State went punt, FG, FG, FG, punt, fumble.

And just like that, any hopes of ending what has been the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year of Penn State Football, ended. Just like that.

Fireworks are nice. Drones are cool. But Penn State fans want…desperately need…wins. As Campbell himself said, “They deserve it.”

Appropriately enough, as I write this, sitting in the corner of the Penn State press box, too many minutes after midnight, the skies have really opened up — much earlier than expected, just like the flood of losses in the 2026 season — over the stadium that had been bathed in glorious white less than two hours ago.

I can only think that Beaver Stadium — stretched and beaten up with multiple years of renovation — is also feeling the pain, deep down to its core. The ol’ stadium, just like its fans, is crying.