What We Learned From Penn State's Latest Frustrating Loss to Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Michigan | Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht sat on one knee, his head tilted and his eyes glued to Michigan Stadium’s north scoreboard. The fifth-year gunslinger was watching the replay of his third turnover, the one that effectively stamped the end of the Nittany Lions’ fourth straight loss.

Penn State fell to the Wolverines 21-18 on Saturday in a game headlined by Becht’s turnovers, which Michigan turned into 21 points. The Nittany Lions (3-4, 0-4 Big Ten) head to the bye week ready to take a long look in the mirror. 

Here’s what we learned from the Nittany Lions’ loss, one that should, but probably won’t, lead to a significant change at quarterback.

It’s time for a quarterback change

Michigan benched its highly regarded, 5-star quarterback Bryce Underwood at halftime. And it worked. Tommy Carr led three touchdown drives, scoring a touchdown on a 12-yard run and fronting an offense for which the Nittany Lions weren’t prepared. 

Becht, who is one-and-done at Penn State, has shown time and time again he isn’t consistent enough to beat Big Ten defenses. He’s been subpar for 14 of 16 quarters against Big Ten teams, excluding the first half against USC. And he put up another dud Saturday against Michigan. However, Penn State coach Matt Campbell said he isn’t considering benching the seasoned quarterback.

“Obviously Rocco would be the first guy to say he’s got to do a better job taking care of the football,” Campbell said. “Obviously it was an emphasis. But man, how that guy continues to compete and fight and gave us a chance even at the end of the ballgame. He’s got to be better, he will continue to grow and be better, but no, there’s never a consideration [of pulling him] from my end.”

Becht completed 28 of 44 passes for 267 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions Saturday evening. He also fumbled the game away in the fourth quarter, when safety Chris Bracy stripped him inside Penn State’s 20-yard line with 5:02 remaining.

The Iowa State transfer missed throws short and on the inside hash of his receivers all day. And unfortunately for Becht, his turnovers were the difference Saturday night, as Michigan scored all 21 of their points off them. 

But even with his mishaps, Becht still had every chance to win the game for Penn State. He took over drives with 10:04 and 6:23 left, trailing by just three points. The latter drive also had good field positioning, starting at the Nittany Lions’ own 41-yard line. He went three-and-out, however.

“This game's super humbling,” Becht said. “That's why you play it. That's why you love it. For me, unfortunately, I've been in this position before last year, and I got out of it. So I'm going to be strong. I know this team's going to be strong, and we're continuing to get better.”

With a bye week and Purdue visiting on Halloween, Penn State has an opportunity to give backup quarterback Alex Manske a longer look at in its offense. But at least Saturday night, Campbell wasn’t willing to entertain the thought.

“I have complete faith in who Rocco Becht is and what he’s about,” Campbell said. “Listen, nobody's more devastated than that guy right now in that locker room, but the reality is, that’s the position he plays.”

Chase Sowell is Penn State’s best receiver since Parker Washington

It’s difficult to imagine what the final score would have been if the Nittany Lions didn’t have Sowell on the field. 

Much like last week against USC, the redshirt senior dictated the Penn State offense early in the game. He finished with six catches for 74 yards in the first half, which could have been nine receptions for 101 yards, but a 27-yard completion was negated after an offensive pass interference on receiver Brett Eskildsen.

Sowell finished with 11 catches for 151 yards and one touchdown. He seemingly was open every play and often came up with the catch despite some shaky throws by Becht. Sowell quickly has turned into the offense’s best receiver and maybe one of the better wideouts in the Big Ten.

“Having a game like that, I was just trying to find a way to kind of get the momentum going and kind of find ways to get our spark back, get that swagger [back],” Sowell said. “… I was trying to feed into our offense, trying to get that swagger, trying to get some confidence back in us and get some rhythm.”

Penn State’s defense still has gaps

The Nittany Lions’ defense didn’t lose this game. Michigan scored two of their three touchdowns after turnovers on Penn State’s side of the field. The other came on a 74-yard drive led by Carr.

But for a team whose margins are so thin, its defense yet again lost contain on two big run plays. The first was Bryson Kuzdzal’s 43-yard touchdown run in the third quarter on Carr’s first series. Michigan had run for just 37 yards total in the first half.

The second Savion Hiter’s 41-yard gain when Penn State Michigan backed to its own 7-yard line in the fourth quarter. Michigan ultimately punted on the series but it flipped field position, setting up the sack-fumble that led to the game-winning touchdown.

Penn State struck gold with cornerback Josiah Zayas

Left on an island late in the first half, freshman cornerback Josiah Zayas leaped in the air and snatched a Bryce Underwood pass with his right hand, pulling it into his body for his second interception of the season. Coincidentally, both takeaways have come from one-handed grabs. 

Zayas has been a pleasant surprise for Penn State this season, grabbing the starting slot role since teammate Zion Tracy has moved to safety. He finished Saturday with three tackles, one interception and one pass breakup. Zayas has been the standout of Campbell’s makeshift 2026 recruiting class.

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