Penn State facing glaring issues after back-to-back losses
· Yahoo Sports
EVANSTON, Ill. (WHTM) -- It is next to impossible to pin Penn State's loss to Northwestern on just one thing, but here are three glaring issues following the Nittany Lions' back-to-back losses this season.
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The run game only produced 48 yards, the run defense gave up 418, and head coach Matt Campbell says his program has lost the Penn State standard.
"The mental approach of getting our guys back and the physical approach that it takes to be the team we need to be, to be consistent and play the brand of football that we want to play," Campbell said. "And so I think that starts on the head football coach. We have the right human beings in that locker room, and we certainly have the right coaches in that locker room, and the challenge will be getting ourselves aligned back to who we want to be, where we need to be and fundamentally the team we need to be to be able to win football games in this conference."
The run defense gave up the most yards since 2022 against Michigan, 413 to the Wildcats, a complete collapse after giving up just 484 in their previous four games combined.
"Obviously, we can't tell ourselves (about) the short weeks and feel bad for ourselves," linebacker Tony Rojas said. "We just got to get better. Us leaders, we got to make sure that practices ahead are better. It starts with us."
Rocco Becht had two interceptions in this one as the offense struggled to play cohesively and in rhythm. The run game never got going once again. Carson Hansen led all backs with 19 yards.
"Yeah, for me, I'm the same type of guy, and I think this is one me as well," Becht said. "And Coach Mouser said the same thing. We know that we all have to be better. This is a whole team thing; we gotta be accountable. It's not just one person; it's everyone. This isn't Penn State football. We have to be better."
"The biggest thing is you can have a victor mentality or a victim mentality," offensive lineman Cooper Cousins said. "So my biggest focus, not only for just the team right now, but even myself, is to not have a victim mentality. We got a good opponent next week, and we gotta get ready to go."
A lot of looking in the mirror coming up this week, with Campbell saying the loss is on him, and his players taking their own accountability.
Penn State will now turn its attention to the White Out game next week at home against USC.
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Here's a look at Penn State's schedule for 2026:
- September 5 - vs. Marshall
- September 12 - at Temple
- September 19 - vs. Buffalo
- September 26 - vs. Wisconsin
- October 2 - at Northwestern
- October 10 - vs. USC
- October 17 - at Michigan
- October 31 - vs. Purdue
- November 7 - at Washington
- November 14 - vs. Minnesota
- November 21 - vs. Rutgers
- November 28 - at Maryland