After starting the 2025 season with hopes of competing for a national championship, the Nittany Lions, with James Franklin, started their Big 10 play zero and three, with the final nail in the coffin being a late loss to Northwestern in front of the home crowd at University Park.
Penn State’s head coaching void was filled temporarily with coach Terry Smith, who was able to rally the Nittany Lions back together after starting 3-6 to win the final three games of the year and earn a bowl game against Clemson.
Shortly after the final game of the season against Rutgers, the Nittany Lions organization was able to find their new head coach in Matt Campbell, whom they signed to an eight-year deal with the team.
Campbell brought many bright moments to a struggling Cyclones squad, reaching the Big 12 Championship game twice, the only times the program has reached the game before losing to number 10 Oklahoma and number 12 Arizona State.
During his time at Iowa State, Campbell held a combined 72-55 overall record, 50-40 in conference play, while being 4-6 against top 10 teams. Iowa State, in its 128 years, has only had 12 top-10 victories.
The big number that stands out is the play against the elite teams. Penn State under James Franklin was 4-21 against top 10 teams and 1-15 against the elite five.
As of January 13, Campbell has started to find a groove in the transfer portal, bringing 33 new transfers, a lot of them being former Iowa State Cyclones.
Penn State has the third-ranked portal class in the country while bringing in some new high school commits.
Campbell will have to work around a potential new quarterback as Drew Allar lost his eligibility to stay for another year.
Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen are essentially locks for running back-needy teams, and try to fill the absence at edge once Dani Dennis-Sutton leaves.
Both sides of the ball are projected to lose five to six starters, including big-time needs at the offensive line, receiving room, and secondary, but the fill-ins look to be mostly seniors, which provides experience for the group at least.
Again, looking at what the future holds for Penn State, the Lions will have some big-time games in Matt Campbell’s first three years as the head coach.
Their schedules from 2026 all the way to 2028 get tougher and tougher as they go; a glimpse can be seen of who they will play.
Penn State will look to build upon their current roster and extra motivation from the bowl win against Clemson.
Starting in 2026, the Nittany Lions will have to travel to Seattle and Ann Arbor to play the Washington Huskies and Michigan Wolverines.
Both teams ending their 2025 season with nine wins, and look to build again. They will also host the USC Trojans at Beaver Stadium.
2027 gets a lot tougher, with Penn State having away games at Oregon to play the Ducks and at the up-and-coming Indiana Hoosiers, all while still getting games with Michigan and Washington again.
Looking at 2028, they will play the Ohio State Buckeyes, Indiana Hoosiers and Oregon Ducks at home for big-time matchups in University Park while getting road games with Nebraska and USC to clash with the Cornhuskers and Trojans on their home turfs.