I wrote a few weeks back after the loss to Northwestern that Matt Campbell may need to consider changing quarterbacks after two back-to-back losses wherein Rocco Becht looked increasingly worse.
I wrote on Monday that Rocco (and by extension, Campbell) need to take accountability for the poor play at the quarterback position following a fourth straight loss.
Which leads me to my current concern: what does Penn State have in the quarterback room?
By now the issues surrounding Becht’s play are well-known, so there’s not much need to rehash them. But other than some garbage time play against the non-conference fodder, we have not seen backup Alex Manske (or third string Connor Barry).
Why is that?
Against Penn State, Kyle Wittingham benched his OMG, WOW, 5-star, $3M quarterback Bryce Underwood, and watched the backup promptly deliver a win to the Michigan Wolverines.
What’s stopping Matt Campbell from doing the same? Even if it’s just for a half, or a quarter, or a drive. Why not see what the other QBs can do?
At this point, the team is fighting for bowl eligibility, so the season is not a completely foregone conclusion. Seemingly for every good play Rocco makes, there’s an equally bad play to follow it up. The team has floundered the past month with him under center, so why not at least see what the other guy(s) can do? Becht is done after this year, so there’s not much point in looking to try to develop him further. Why not give the other guy(s) a shot?
My fear is that the other guy(s) are demonstrably worse than what we’ve seen so far.
That Rocco Becht is, for better or for worse, the only real option Penn State has at quarterback this year.
That’s not to say Manske couldn’t continue to develop – he is just 7 months removed from open heart surgery, so there’s still hope for him next season and beyond. But this year may just be a wash for him, at least in anything other than mop up duty.
Barry meanwhile is a redshirt senior Division III transfer from Christopher Newport. Is there any realistic shot that he’ll be the one to jump start this offense?
So yes, I have concerns about the quarterback position. The concern is that there simply is not anyone on the roster that can do better than what Rocco Becht has done so far this year, and that we will simply have to hope that the wins start coming as the team plays lesser competition in the back half of the schedule.
But if all of that is true, Penn State is going to have to open its pocket book this off season to find itself a true QB1 next year. Or else it could be a loooooong time before we see the Blue and White make any real play for the playoffs or beyond.