Ahead of their matchup with Penn State this Saturday, the Michigan football team has been hitting the history books.
Or more accurately, the history e-books, given that they aren’t exactly reaching all the way into the dustiest corners of the Vatican Archives for a primary source account of Galileo’s findings on whether the Earth circled the Sun.
The Wolverines have instead been busying themselves with more recent events, reviewing tape on Iowa State’s Matt Campbell-era footage ahead of their bout with the Nittany Lions, where Campbell now coaches and employs a good chunk of his former players.
“No doubt, we definitely watched some of their tape as well,” edge rusher Benny Patterson said. “Given that a lot of their players came from there.”
Campbell presided over the Cyclones for 10 seasons between 2016 and 2025, and his time in Ames frequently led to buzz over bigger NFL and college football jobs. Iowa State amassed a 72-55 record and a 50-40 Big 12 record during Campbell’s tenure and became bowl regulars, going 3-4 in seven trips. His 2020 season was the program’s zenith, as he led the Cyclones to a 9-3 record, a Fiesta Bowl victory and a No. 9 year-end ranking. In 2026, Campbell finally left to become the head coach at Penn State.
And with him, he brought the cavalry. 24 members of the 2025 Iowa State football team followed Campbell to Happy Valley. Among the biggest names are quarterback Rocco Becht, receiver Chase Sowell, running back Carson Hansen, offensive lineman Trevor Buhr and safety Marcus Neal Jr.
“Last time we played them was two seasons ago, and I rode the bench,” defensive lineman Jonah Lea’a, who started at the Cyclones’ Big 12 rival Utah before transferring to Michigan this offseason. “I didn’t get a single snap, but they’re a good team. You know, Rocco Becht is a really good quarterback. They’re good. You know, they know what they’re doing. They know how to operate their offense.”
However, there’s one thing that reviewing Cyclones tape doesn’t necessarily tell you. And it’s that those skills have yet to carry over to the Big Ten.
The Nittany Lions’ season has gotten off to a car crash of a start. Penn State is 3-3 and 0-3 in the Big Ten, its playoff hopes already dead in the water. Transfers like Hansen and Neal Jr. have struggled mightily so far. Becht looked respectable to start the season in non-conference play and had a respectable stat line in a loss to No. 19 USC, but hasn’t looked anything like a Heisman contender so far.
It’s an eerie parallel to the Wolverines’ own predicament. Michigan has similarly fueled up on the coaching and talent spine of a Big 12 school — looking to Salt Lake City where Penn State looked to Ames — but has similarly failed to translate, as the Wolverines find themselves 3-2 in a winless start to conference play and staring down the barrel of a third straight defeat.
The two teams even play a stylistically similar brand of football, relying on dominance in the trenches, a sound run game and a dual-threat quarterback, though both teams have seen significant struggles in execution.
“They got some good backs, good o-line, and a couple good o-linemen,” linebacker Chase Taylor said.
When Michigan and the Nittany Lions take the field on Saturday, they’ll find themselves each looking at a team at a very familiar crossroads — between a Big 12-inspired experiment being salvageable, and a lost season. But only one can cross it, and the Wolverines are hoping it’s gonna be them.