Big Ten · Matt Campbell, year 1 (3-0) · Beaver Stadium · 106,572 · 106,153 avg in 2026
LastW 55–13 vs Buffalo · Sat Sep 19 · Koby Howard 20 rush yds, 1 TD, 115 rec yds
Nextvs Wisconsin · Sat Sep 26 · 5 pm ET · Beaver Stadium · Penn State by 10 · series 12-9, won the last 6 · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 22 · through week 3
| Wk | Date | Us | Opp | Line | Opponent | Result | Record | Conf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 5 | #46 | #23 | -23.5✓ | Marshall | W 45–0 126 | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| 2 | Sep 12 | #38 | #91 | -24.5✗ | @Temple | W 27–9 116 | 2-0 | 0-0 |
| 3 | Sep 19 | #35 | #145 | -39.5✓ | Buffalo | W 55–13 130 | 3-0 | 0-0 |
| 4 | Sep 26 | #31 | #81 | -10 | Wisconsin | |||
| 5 | Oct 3 | #30 | #15 | @Northwestern | ||||
| 6 | Oct 10 | USC | ||||||
| 7 | Oct 17 | @Michigan | ||||||
| 9 | Oct 31 | Purdue | ||||||
| 10 | Nov 7 | @Washington | ||||||
| 11 | Nov 14 | Minnesota | ||||||
| 12 | Nov 21 | Rutgers | ||||||
| 13 | Nov 28 | @Maryland |
| Date | Opp | Result | Yds | TO | TOP | EPA/play | Success% | Explosive% | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 19 | Buffalo | W 55–13 | 573 | 0 | 31:23 | +0.399 | 46.4% | 152.4% | Most explosive |
| Sep 12 | @Temple | W 27–9 | 416 | 0 | 28:49 | +0.207 | 43.8% | 118.1% | Season-low EPA/play |
| Sep 5 | Marshall | W 45–0 | 487 | 0 | 36:13 | +0.422 | 51.4% | 129.5% | Season-high EPA/play |
| Season average (3 games) | 492 | 0.0 | +0.343 | 47.2% | 133.3% | ||||
Penn State spent a decade as the program that could win every big game except the biggest — and in 2025 the wait finally broke the man who embodied it, ending the Franklin era mid-season and handing the job to someone hired to do the one thing the program never could.
Fans will point to the scoreboard: a decade of being the Big Ten's clear third program behind Ohio State and Michigan, the two rivals who kept finding a way in the fourth quarter when Penn State…
The season in chapters
What fans said
Real posts from the day of the game, chosen by community score · usernames not shown
What it is like to watch them2025 · 7-6 · last season
✓ measured from 13 games · ranks are among Big Ten teams the same season
Recent form · last 10 games · incl. 2025
Hot. 7-3 over the last 10, and won the last seven.
I think Ajani’s strength has been him pulling the ball down and running and some of those designed runs
Next Sep 26
vs Wisconsin · at home
✓ fact on line · ~ our read on style
Market outlook
Sportsbook consensus · best odds across multiple books · 2026-09-22
the open questionis the portal class enough to move the needle?
Franklin's top-2 Big Ten portal class adds Becht at QB and Brahmer at TE — filling gaps after 8 NFL exits in a program still rebuilding its identity.
our readfront page
Campbell, who led Iowa State to a 7-6 record and a #7 AP ranking, inherits a Penn State program with only 8% production returning — the standard built by Franklin.
our readdeveloping
Campbell inherits a 7-6 roster and 56% returning production, but Penn State's standard was built by Franklin's legacy — the program must now prove it can thrive without him.
our readdeveloping
James Franklin enters his 10th season at Penn State with a 7-6 record, tasked with maintaining the program's national power status built on a legacy that must continually be rebuilt in his absence.
our readdeveloping
Matt Campbell begins his first season at Penn State, inheriting a 7-6 record and a program that must redefine its identity without its legendary predecessor.
our readbackground
James Franklin's sixth season sees Penn State's win total dip from 9.5 to 8.5, testing whether his reputation can sustain a program built by one man.
our readdeveloping
Kaytron Allen does NOT see a usage spike in garbage time -- his workload holds steady regardless of score, and he's also efficient in competitive snaps -- the production isn't just garbage-time padding.
our readdeveloping
Matt Campbell begins his tenure at Penn State, inheriting a 7-6 record and a program that must redefine its identity without its legacy-builder.
our readdeveloping
Kaytron Allen: a short yardage signal screened this season.
our readbackground
Nicholas Singleton converts 3rd/4th-and-short at a below-average rate.
our readbackground
Outcome band · Penn State · 2026
Floor, base and ceiling come from the season-path projection, which plays out conference title games and the CFP — so a ceiling can run past 12 games.
Penn State signed a top-6 transfer-portal class — 38 additions headlined by Rocco Becht (QB) from Iowa State and Alex Manske (QB) from Iowa State. It is a top-2 portal class in the Big Ten this cycle. Portal pickups are proven college players — the split isn't about development, it's about whether they fit the scheme and win their position battles. Coverage is split on whether volume or positional fit is the bigger story.
The off-field storyline driving the noise right now. Not analysis — the soap opera, and that's the point.
The 'portal class fills the gaps' believers -- upgrades at real positions of need.
The 'portal is a gamble' counter -- departure losses and the 'plug-and-play doesn't work' read.
This event was in 116 of 7378 board posts (2%) over the last 60 days — engaged but not consumed. Fan text shown verbatim, attributed to the community not the individual poster.
The boards ≠ the fanbase: a vocal, self-selected slice.
The off-field storyline driving the noise right now. Not analysis — the soap opera, and that's the point.
The optimistic read: momentum, and the 'this is real' takes.
The analytical counter: rankings, results, and 'the hype is ahead of the tape' takes.
This event was in 854 of 7378 board posts (12%) over the last 60 days — a fanbase consumed by it. Fan text shown verbatim, attributed to the community not the individual poster.
The boards ≠ the fanbase: a vocal, self-selected slice.
Fan mood index · most recent r/cfb data
More in this tab
Penn State is the program whose standard was built by one man's reputation and has to keep being rebuilt in his absence.
The program ledger
since 2025Max Granville out for season
Eight starters gone to the draft, class ranked 65th, and now Granville's out for the year — Campbell inherited a EDGE depth problem that just got measurably worse before a snap is played.
Penn State transfer named VT QB1
Campbell's win-now pressure just got a wrinkle — losing a QB to Virginia Tech's starting spot means one less chess piece as Penn State rebuilds around 8 NFL Draft departures.
Penn State hires D’Anton Lynn as DC
Eight drafted starters out the door and a #65-ranked class coming in — Lynn's hire is Campbell betting that elite defensive scheming closes the gap faster than recruiting depth can.
Aiden Gibson flips to Rutgers
Eight draft exits and Franklin's EDGE room is still bleeding — Gibson flipping to Rutgers is a small wound, but a top-15 class and a top-5 transfer haul can't afford many of them.
Khalil Taylor flips to Nebraska
Eight draft exits and the EDGE room still thin — losing a flip to Lincoln hurts less about the player and more about what it signals when your win total is already down a full win.
Chaz Coleman dismissed from Tennessee
Eight starters gone to the draft and EDGE is still a pressure point — Coleman's dismissal from Tennessee reopens a door Franklin's portal class hasn't fully closed yet.
Top 3 commits
Recruiting Footprint · 2026
NE leads the 2026 class with 4 commits. National footprint reaching 9 states.
Where they recruit · 2023-2026
94 signees across 22 states, 2023-2026. PA leads the pull.
That is 9.9% of every high-school FBS signee PA produced over those cycles — the biggest share any program takes — Temple is next. The full map →
Miles from home · 2026 roster
The median Penn State player grew up 251 miles from campus.
Half this roster came from closer than that; half came from farther.
Straight-line distance from each player's listed hometown to Beaver Stadium. Hometowns are placed at city-centroid precision, not street address — fine at this scale, but a player's true door-to-door number can differ by a few miles. 109 of 112 listed players have a geocoded hometown. Source: CFBD roster hometowns.
Top r/cfb community posts · last 12 months
Fan confidence in a typical range for this program right now
45th percentile among FBS programs
67 of 68 AP voters have them ranked, AP ballot, week 3 (2026) — from #12, David Paschall (Chattanooga Times Free Press), to #24, Adam Lichtenstein (South Florida Sun-Sentinel). 1 voter left them off the ballot entirely.
Individual AP Top 25 ballots, AP ballot, week 3, 2026 — 68 voters tracked.
The bounces have gone their way on the fumbles they've forced: 50% recovered, vs. ~48% expected.
3 of 6 forced fumbles recovered, 2026 only.
Cashing in at a normal clip: 17% of disrupted passes intercepted, close to ~19% league-wide.
2 interceptions of 12 disrupted passes (10 deflected, 2 intercepted), 2026 only.
The flags haven't favored them: 16 penalties committed vs. 12 drawn on opponents, 26 yards behind.
161 penalty yards committed vs. 135 drawn on opponents, 2026 season total.
Outcome band · Penn State · 2026
Recruiting Footprint · 2026