Is this rock bottom?
Only time will tell. The Matt Campbell era is off to a disastrous start in Happy Valley, as Penn State football has now lost its first two games of Big Ten play. Things weren’t particularly close in Evanston, either, as Northwestern walked away with a blowout win and a memorable first game in its new stadium.
There was plenty of blame flying around on social media Friday night and early into Saturday morning. Lots of discussion focused on Campbell and the roster he chose to bring over to Penn State.
Although Penn State struggled in all facets of the game, quarterback Rocco Becht had an especially abysmal game. It didn’t take long before folks were calling for his benching.
Lots of fans also believe these early struggles are a top-down issue, stemming back to some of the systemic changes Pat Kraft has made to Penn State Athletics. People are not happy!
Despite how poorly Friday went, some optimism remains amongst the fanbase. It’s only been five games, after all. Perhaps we were all out over our skis expecting playoff-caliber results in year one of a new regime.
Penn State did, however, get a minor win in the court of public opinion on Friday night when James Franklin suffered his first “big game” loss at Virginia Tech. A controversial ending, but one that put a tick in the Hokies’ loss column nonetheless.
