Penn State Football

State College, PA - September 5, 2026: The Penn State Nittany Lions shut out the Marshall Thundering Heard 45-0 Saturday afternoon, at West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium, in Matt Campbell’s first game as Head Coach.

The Nittany Lion offense started fast, scoring on their first three possessions, while the defense held the Thundering Heard to 147 yards of total offense. The Nittany Lions scored 17 points in the 1st quarter, 7 points in the 2nd, 14 points in the 3rd, and 7 in the 4th. Six different players scored the touchdowns.

Marshall won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. Penn State’s Zay Robinson ran the opening kickoff back thirty-eight yards. A sideline penalty by Marshall moved the first snap of the game to the fifty yard line, where Rocco Becht and the Nittany Lion offense took control. Six plays and thirty yards later, junior kicker Ryan Barker hit a thirty-eight yard field goal to put the Nittany Lions up 3-0.

After Marshall went three and out, Penn State began their next drive at their thirty-eight yard line. The Nittany Lions capped off a four play, sixty-two yard drive, when receiver Koby Howard hauled in a forty-two yard touchdown pass from Becht.

The Nittany Lions second touchdown of the 1st quarter came on their very next possession, a twenty-five yard pass from Becht to receiver Brett Eskildsen. This sixty-six yard drive took only four plays.

The additional scoring went like this: Ben Brahmer caught an eight yard touchdown pass from Becht, Robinson caught a thirty-nine yard touchdown pass from Becht, Quinton Martin scored on a six yard run, and Cam Wallace scored on a six yard run.

In Becht’s first game with Penn State, many wondered how the former Big12 player would perform. Becht was just one of twenty-four transfers who followed Campbell from Iowa State to Penn State in the off-season. Becht finished the game going 13 for 18, for 271 yards and four touchdowns.

After the game, Coach Campbell said: “I thought Rocco was really efficient today in terms of, you were getting eight, nine guys in the box, you were getting a lot of pressure.” “I didn’t know exactly what to expect and I think for Rocco to be able to handle that and distribute the ball, sometimes being a great quarterback is like being a great point guard, you got to be a great distributor of where the ball needs to go, and I thought he was outstanding today.” “I thought he was from the beginning.” “A lot of those he put us in a really great position to be successful, so hats off to him.”

The Nittany Lions racked up 487 yards of total offense, 163 of those yards were on the ground. Senior running back Carsen Hanson led the Nittany Lion rushing attack, tallying 48 yards on 11 carries. Three other running backs contributed. Quinton Martin ran for 38 yards, Cam Wallace ran for 42 yards, and James Peoples ran for 31 yards.

Sophomore receiver Koby Howard led the Nittany Lions in receiving. He caught six passes for 161 yards and a touchdown. Junior receiver Brett Eskildsen caught five passes for 48 yards and had a touchdown. Freshman receiver Zay Robinson and senior tight end Ben Brahmer also caught touchdown passes from Becht. The receiving core recorded a total of 324 yards through the air.

Junior linebacker Tony Rojas led the Nittany Lion defense with seven total tackles, six of which were solo. Senior defensive end Caleb Bacon had six total tackles, including 5 solo. Both Rojas and Bacon recorded a sack. Freshman safety Bryson Williams recorded an interception which led to Nittany Lion points.

After the game, on the Stripe-Out atmosphere at Beaver Stadium, Bacon commented: “I think the first initial runout, and the We Are Penn State chants, they are super cool to me.” “And, knowing the history of how that became a chant here, it’s super cool to hear it.”

The Nittany Lions have fifty-five new players on their roster for 2026. Many fans and alumni wondered, or were curious, with a new coach, a new offense/defense, and the many new faces, how the team would look for this opener. The Nittany Lions’ thrashing of Marshall may have answered some of those questions.

Penn State plays Temple on September 12 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Their first Big10 opponent is Wisconsin on September 26 at home. The Nittany Lions also have USC (home) and Michigan (away) back to back in October.

Penn State senior running back Carson Hansen (21) looks for an opening during a game against Marshall on September 5, 2026 at Beaver Stadium in State College, PA. Penn State defeated Marshall 45-0.