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QB Rocco Becht follows Matt Campbell, lands at Penn State via transfer portal
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- QB Rocco Becht follows Matt Campbell, lands at Penn State via transfer portal
One of the benefits of the current state of college football for teams: If you can find a coach, you can find a quarterback .
After Drew Mestemaker followed his North Texas coach Eric Morris to Oklahoma State , Rocco Becht is doing the same. The former Iowa State quarterback will join his coach Matt Campbell at Penn State , giving the Nittany Lions their 2026 quarterback.
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REQUIRED READING: College football teams needing QB in transfer portal and who might fit
Becht, who will be a redshirt senior next year, battled an injury for most of the 2025 season and saw his stats suffer for it. He's hoping a surgery on what was diagnosed as a partially torn labrum will return him to form for another season in college football next year.
The move puts a button on the Drew Allar era for Penn State. Allar is expected to enter the NFL draft after he suffered a season-ending ankle injury in October against Northwestern. Becht and Campbell are hoping to right what was a disastrous 2025 for Penn State, though the season did end with a Pinstripe Bowl win over Clemson.
Redshirt freshman QB Alex Manske also committed to Penn State from Iowa State on Sunday to serve as Becht's understudy.
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Rocco Becht transfer portal ranking
ESPN lists Becht as the 16th-highest ranked player in the transfer portal. Becht's injury limited him this year, but Penn State will undoubtedly expect a return to form.
Rocco Becht stats
Over the course of his career, Becht has amassed 9,274 yards on 714-of-1,177 passing (60.7% completion rate), with 64 touchdowns and 27 interceptions. He saw lower numbers in 2025, thanks in part to a partially torn labrum that required surgery in December.
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2022: 7-of-15 passing, 65 yards, one interception (redshirts season)
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2023: 231-of-367 passing, 3,120 yards, 23 touchdowns, eight interceptions
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2024:271-of-456 passing, 3,505 yards, 25 touchdowns, nine interceptions
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2025:205-of-339 passing, 2,584 yards, 16 touchdowns, nine interceptions
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iowa State QB Rocco Becht transfers to Penn State, rejoins Matt Campbell
