Columns

Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN has high hopes for Matt Campbell and his Nittany Lions in the new head coach’s first season in Happy Valley. Higher, perhaps, than even the top row of the new west side stands in Beaver Stadium. In fact, almost no one in all of college football is more in on Campbell…

Matt Campbell and the Nittany Lions open their 2026 season Saturday afternoon in Beaver Stadium against Marshall. It’s Campbell’s first game as Penn State’s head coach, and even though he’s just 46 years old, it will be his 15th season opener as a big boss in college football. So, Campbell has been in this spot…

As Christian Smith sat in the Penn State football team meeting room in the Lasch Building, surrounded by a small handful of local media types on Tuesday — just 11 days before the Nittany Lions’ season-opener against Marshall — the irony was not lost on Penn State’s new edge rusher coach.  Ultimately, James Franklin’s loss was…

It was 15 seasons ago when D’Anton Lynn last stood on the Beaver Stadium turf for a fall football game as a Penn State cornerback. Lynn returns in 13 days as the Nittany Lions’ defensive coordinator, when Penn State hosts Marshall in the 2026 season opener. Time flies. In his stellar Penn State career from…

One of the major talking points of this offseason has been “who will be this year’s Indiana?” — as in, which team will seemingly come out of nowhere to compete for a national championship, likely following a heavy transfer portal influx. The answer is no one. That’s because there’s only one Curt Cignetti, and he…

Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht is the most prominent transfer from Iowa State this past offseason. Other than head coach Matt Campbell, of course. In three seasons at Iowa State, Becht started 39 consecutive games for the Cyclones and Campbell, winning 26, and threw for over 9,200 yards and 64 touchdowns. A talented star QB…