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Rocco Becht produced nine of Penn State's eleven explosive plays

The scoreboard says rout. The interesting part is HOW — and whether it means anything.

The Film Room
Matchups ·
3 min read

Marshall never had a foothold. Penn State dismantles Marshall, 45-0 at Beaver Stadium. Penn State led from start to finish and never let Marshall within striking distance. Rocco Becht threw for 271 yards on 18 attempts with four touchdowns and lost 5 yards on two carries.

45-0
Final
Penn State · Beaver Stadium
271
Rocco Becht
passing yds, 4 TD

The big plays only went one way

Penn State produced 11 plays of 15+ yards to Marshall's 1: Rocco Becht (involved in 9), Koby Howard (involved in 5) and Brett Eskildsen (involved in 2). Penn State scored on 58% of its drives to Marshall's 0%, led by Rocco Becht (24 pts), Koby Howard (6 pts) and Brett Eskildsen (6 pts). Stacked together, it was never close.

Head to head
Penn StateMarshall
Points
45
0
Scored on % of drives
58.3%
0%
Three-and-out %
16.7%
58.3%
Yards / drive
41.8
13.9

How the two sides actually played on the night.

The difference-makers

Rocco Becht threw for 271 yards on 18 attempts with four touchdowns and lost 5 yards on two carries, with two third-down conversions and a hand in nine plays of 15 yards or more. Koby Howard caught six passes for 161 yards, one of them for a touchdown, with three third-down conversions and a hand in five plays of 15 yards or more. Brett Eskildsen caught five passes for 48 yards, one of them for a touchdown. For Marshall, Joshon Barbie ran five times for 6 yards and caught three passes for 10 yards. Khalil Wilkins caught one pass for 6 yards. Carlos Del Rio-Wilson threw for 102 yards on 25 attempts and ran 13 times for 30 yards. Bryson Williams was the disruptive one for Penn State: 1 INT.

TeamPassingRushingReceiving
Penn StateRocco Becht 271, 4 TDCarson Hansen 48Koby Howard 161, 1 TD
MarshallCarlos Del Rio-Wilson 102Carlos Del Rio-Wilson 30Toby Payne 55
Leaders

What Marshall has to fix

The problems had names: Anthony Quinn Jr. (1 lost fumble).

Who got home

Two names to keep, all for Penn State: Bryson Williams (1 INT) and Caleb Bacon (1 sack, 3 TFLs, 5.5 tackles).

How we got here

Penn State struck first through Ryan Barker, led 24-0 at the half and Penn State got the final points on a late touchdown by Cam Wallace.

WhenTeamPlay
Q1 12:26Penn StateRyan Barker field goal attempt from 38 yards GOOD (H: Nathan Tiyce, LS: Blaise…
Q1 08:35Penn StateNo Huddle-Shotgun Rocco Becht pass complete short middle to Koby Howard caught at MAR25…
Q1 04:49Penn StateNo Huddle-Shotgun Rocco Becht pass complete short left to Brett Eskildsen caught at…
Q2 01:18Penn StateBenjamin Brahmer 8 Yd pass from Rocco Becht (Ryan Barker Kick)
Q3 11:14Penn StateNo Huddle-Shotgun Rocco Becht pass complete short middle to Zay Robinson caught at MAR25…
Q3 06:16Penn StateNo Huddle-Shotgun Quinton Martin Jr. rush left for 6 yards gain to the MAR00 TOUCHDOWN…
Q4 07:59Penn StateNo Huddle-Shotgun Cam Wallace rush right for 6 yards gain to the MAR00 TOUCHDOWN, clock…
How the points were scored

What it means

What comparable games predict next
Penn State offense (winner)38% of 8 rebounded
Marshall offense (loser)67% of 6 rebounded

Historically similar games since 2019 — close margin, both offenses held far below norm — and how often that offense outperformed this level the following week.

Business handled for Penn State. The question now is whether the opponent told us anything.

Discussion

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