Penn State football team finally begins Matt Campbell era against Marshall

Matt Campbell has spent the last nine months assembling his first Penn State football roster and staff, laying his program's foundation, creating its culture and finally preparing for the first game.

It's been a whirlwind in many ways, barely allowing the 46-year-old Campbell to catch his breath.

But the season has finally arrived. Penn State begins the Matt Campbell era in earnest against three-touchdown underdog Marshall Saturday at 3:30 (TV-FS1) at Beaver Stadium.

Like the rest of us, Campbell will finally see the product resulting from all the work.

"I'm looking forward to seeing how we handle the challenges," he said. "You have a good Marshall football team. They're going to put us in challenging situations. How do we respond to that? How do we handle the crowd? How do we handle our own ego, our own leadership?

"I think there's so much we're going to learn about ourselves."

After he left Iowa State to take over the Nittany Lions, Campbell and his staff made experience and size priorities when they put together the roster. It includes 40 transfers (24 from Iowa State) and about 50 Penn State returners.

The 2026 Lions are more experienced with 21 players who started at least half of their teams' games last season. They're bigger on both sides of the ball because Campbell wants to have a physical team.

Penn State lost four starters on the offensive line, including first-round draft pick Vega Ioane. Anthony Donkoh, the lone returning starter, moves back to right tackle after playing last season at guard.

Brock Riker, a Freshman All-American last season at Texas State, will anchor the line at center. He'll be flanked at guard by Cooper Cousins and Iowa State transfer Trevor Buhr, who did not allow a sack last season while receiving All-Big 12 honorable mention.

"Just watching him (Riker) take control and lead us out there has been really impressive," Buhr said. "His communication and his violence at the point of attack is awesome. He's a ballplayer. He does everything well."

Malachi Goodman, once a four-star prospect from New Jersey, will start at left tackle after not seeing action last season as a true freshman at Penn State.

"He's really had a tremendous camp," Campbell said. "We're excited about the growth that he's made and the consistency that he's given our football team across the board."

Unlike the previous three seasons, when Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton carried the backfield load, the Lions will use four running backs: Carson Hansen, James Peoples, Quinton Martin Jr. and Cam Wallace.

On defense, linebacker Tony Rojas and cornerback Audavion Collins have enjoyed impressive performances in fall camp. Both were starters last season at Penn State, Rojas for four games before his season-ending knee injury.

"I feel like the old Tony," Rojas said. " I'm super excited to get out there with the guys and play fast. I've had a very good camp and it's been exciting."

Collins, one of the fastest players on the team, started every game last season and had 47 tackles and three pass breakups.

"He's really talented," quarterback Rocco Becht said. "He's really good at playing in between two different routes. He's really good at reading your eyes. He's definitely been an asset to me."

Marshall allowed 30.3 points per game last season when it went 5-7. The Thundering Herd returns just three starters on defense and six on offense, including quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, who accounted for 23 touchdowns last season.

"First games are challenging no matter if you've been there for 10 years or this is your first time around," Campbell said. "First games are always tricky and always challenging. I'm excited to get into this moment because it's going to tell us a lot more."

The Nittany Lions finally begin the Matt Campbell era and want to pound the football regardless of their opponent. The Thundering Herd will test the defense with its dual-threat QB, but expect Penn State to pull away with its depth.