It’s a new era for Penn State football, and it officially starts on Saturday when Marshall comes to town to open the 2026 season.

Head coach Matt Campbell and his team of nearly 40 transfers and over 50 returning players are set to make their first start in Beaver Stadium, and excitement levels couldn’t be higher.

Last season did not go anywhere near according to plan for Penn State. The Nittany Lions began the season as the No. 2 AP-ranked team in the land, and inevitably finished the year outside the top-25. 

Heartbreaking is an understatement for Penn State’s White Out loss to Oregon, a game that caused James Franklin’s squad to spiral out of control, dropping six straight contests. Franklin was fired after the team’s loss to Northwestern, ending an 11-year tenure as the head coach of the blue and white.

When Terry Smith took over for Franklin in an interim role, he was able to right the ship and help the team finish the year on a high note, culminating in a Pinstripe Bowl victory over Clemson.

Campbell was hired in December, and it was immediately announced that Smith would be retained on his staff.

Entering this season, Penn State is back in the AP Poll, sitting at No. 18. The Nittany Lions have a favorable schedule for Campbell’s first season in the blue and white, and it starts with a foe from the Sun Belt Conference.

Let’s take a look at the Thundering Herd.

The Team

It will be the battle of “We Are” this weekend when the Thundering Herd and Nittany Lions meet. While the focus will be what happens on the field, the identity of the Marshall program extends far beyond X’s and O’s.

On November 14, 1970, a Southern Airways plane carrying 37 Marshall University football players and 38 other individuals crashed on a hillside in West Virginia, killing everyone on board following a game against East Carolina.

After deciding not to cancel the program in 1971, Marshall began the difficult task of rebuilding after tragedy. The response of the Huntington, West Virginia, community in the wake of the disaster is one of the most inspiring stories of unity in college football history. 

While the “We Are Marshall” chant didn’t originate directly from the events of that day, it has become closely linked to the program’s resilience.

As for the team Campbell and Penn State will face, the Thundering Herd enter 2026 after a disappointing season the year prior. 

After posting a 10-3 record in 2024 and capturing a Sun Belt Championship victory over Louisiana, Marshall went just 5-7 in 2025. That being said, four of those seven losses were by five points or fewer, something the Nittany Lions can relate to.

Charles Huff coached the 2024 squad before leaving for Southern Mississippi, prompting the Thundering Herd to hire NC State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson to fill his shoes. Before Gibson’s two-year stint with the Wolfpack, he served in the same role at West Virginia for four seasons.

Now entering his second season as a head coach, Gibson will look to bring Marshall back to relevance with a roster that will return much of its production from last season.

Rod Smith is the team’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, a hire Gibson made ahead of his first season with the program. Although he was the interim head coach at Jacksonville State before joining Marshall, Smith has plenty of Big Ten coaching experience. He held different roles at Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois over his 28-year coaching career.

The defense is led by Brad Lambert, who rejoined the program when Smith was hired. He was the defensive coordinator for the Thundering Herd in 2019 and 2020 as well, but left for a job with Purdue, then Wake Forest, and later Kentucky.

If there’s one thing about the Thundering Herd worth noting, it’s that they are not afraid to play tough out-of-conference opponents. 

In week one last year, the team took on Georgia in Sanford Stadium, and traveled to Columbus to play Ohio State the season before that. Despite the fact that neither game was particularly close, Marshall is not shying away from the spotlight that awaits them at Beaver Stadium.

Penn State and Marshall have played just twice in their history, in 1929 and 1930. The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series 2-0

The Offense

Don’t let the five wins fool you, Marshall’s offense excelled last season and was one of the lone bright spots for the team.

The Thundering Herd boasted the fourth most productive unit in the Sun Belt and was a top-40 scoring unit in the nation, averaging just over 30 points per game.

Smith likes to run a spread-option offense and rely on his players’ athleticism to be productive. Luckily for him, he has plenty of names that can be difference-makers this fall.

At quarterback, Carlos Del Rio-Wilson will return for his senior season as the Preseason Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year. Before his junior season at Marshall, Del Rio-Wilson served as Syracuse’s backup signal caller, sitting behind Kyle McCord in 2024.

After getting the starting nod in week three last season, the Atlanta, Georgia, native threw for 2,043 yards, 17 touchdowns, and registered a completion percentage of 64.8 over the course of the year. He won Manning Award “Star of the Week” honors twice, for his 321-yard performance against Georgia State and a four-touchdown affair versus Middle Tennessee State.

Del Rio-Wilson also led the team in rushing, picking up 660 yards on the ground. Penn State will have to account for the scramble threat when No. 7 is on the field this weekend.

De’Andre Tamarez and Adrian Norton are two names to look out for in the wide receiver room, and who Del Rio-Wilson will hope to connect with, at least a handful of times, on Saturday. 

The pair of senior wideouts accounted for fairly similar stat lines last season, tallying 395 and 363 yards, respectively. Norton, a former All-MAC athlete at Akron, has home-run potential and is skilled at finding separation. 

The Thundering Herd offense also has First Team All-Sun Belt tight end Toby Payne in its arsenal, another player who accounted for just above 390 yards in 2025. The team will utilize a rotation of running backs, headlined by returning starter Jo’Shon Barbie.

As for the offensive line, Preseason All-Sun Belt First Team right guard Jalen Slappy will lead the unit. Tariq Montgomery is the other returning starter and will slot in at left tackle. Marshall added nine new offensive linemen to the team this offseason after experiencing major roster turnover due to graduation losses.

The Defense

On the defensive side of the ball, Marshall struggled greatly. It ranked ninth in total defense in the Sun Belt, surrendering a less-than-stellar 30.3 points per game. 

That said, the team was able to retain some key pieces for the 2026 season to build around.

Defensive end Braydin Ward was the team’s sacks leader last year and will be back for his junior season. Additionally, linebacker Javae Gilmore will be back, the man who led the team in tackles for loss with 11.5.

One of the positives Marshall had going for its defense in 2025 was the ability to force turnovers. It ranked fourth in the conference in takeaways, and the defensive backs who will look to keep up the charge will be back in the kelly green this season: Daytione Smith and Josh Pierre-Louis.

Star cornerback Boogie Trotter led the team in turnovers, but was removed from the Marshall roster on Wednesday after a judge ruled he would be ineligible for a fifth year of eligibility. His eligibility is still in the air for Saturday.

The Thundering Herd also added some notable defensive pieces through the transfer portal, particularly edge rusher Kelvon McBride and strong safety Terrente Hinton. Both players came from NC State and have experience playing under Gibson.

Special Teams

The Marshall special teams unit will look completely different in 2026 following the departure of its kicker, punter, and long-snapper.

Cooper Heimbach will handle punting duties and serve as a kickoff specialist. He is a true freshman and a 2025 MaxPreps First Team All-American. Heimbach was also the tenth-ranked punter in the class of 2026.

It’s unclear who the placekicker will be this weekend, as Jorge Diaz Nicolas and Samuel Guiden Krebs split the workload in fall camp. Marshall recently signed Krebs from Ireland.

Stetson transfer Chase Ortiz will serve as the team’s long-snapper.