1-0.

Penn State football shut out Marshall in its season opener on Saturday at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions dominated every aspect of the game and had a handful of standout performances from newcomers and returners alike.

Here’s a quick review of how every position group fared on Saturday.

Quarterbacks: A+

Rocco Becht couldn’t have had a better debut for the blue and white, completing 13 of his 18 passes for 271 yards and tossing four touchdown passes. After leading the Nittany Lions to a commanding 31-0 lead with 8:55 left in the third quarter, he took a seat as backup quarterback Alex Manske took over the controls.

Manske completed six of his eight attempts for 57 yards. His longest and most impressive completion came on a SportsCenter-esque 26-yard pass to Koby Howard, who went up and over his defender to come down with the football.

Connor Barry even got some tread, completing his only pass that resulted in a four-yard loss.

Overall, the quarterbacks were wildly efficient, regardless of the opponent. For context, Drew Allar and Ethan Grunkemeyer completed a combined 29 of 35 passes for 303 yards and a single passing touchdown against Nevada in Penn State’s 2025 season opener.

Running Backs: B-

Four rushers saw action against the Thundering Herd, but truthfully, none of them stood out. Carson Hansen, who was announced as the starter on the jumbotron during pregame introductions, finished the day with 11 carries for 48 yards. Fourth-string back Cam Wallace also handled 11 carries, totaling 42 yards. However, he did find the end zone late in the second half for his first touchdown since Penn State’s game against Kent State in 2024, when he broke both legs.

Quinton Martin Jr. took 10 carries for a total of 38 yards and a score.

Surprisingly, James Peoples, whom many expected to compete with Hansen for a bulk of Penn State’s rushing workload, logged only eight carries for 31 yards.

Overall, the quartet of running backs averaged just under four yards per carry, which is certainly underwhelming considering the difference in physicality between the Sun Belt Conference and the Big Ten.

Receivers: A-

Given how quickly the game got out of hand, there wasn’t a ton of volume distributed to Penn State’s perimeter playmakers on Saturday.

Brett Eskildsen and Howard led the team with seven targets each. Howard stole the show with his six catches for 161 yards and a touchdown. Eskildsen was no slouch either, logging five catches for 48 yards and a score. Behind them came the veteran Chase Sowell, who reeled in both of his targets for 33 yards.

A couple of young bucks got in on the action too, as redshirt freshman Zay Robinson streaked across the field for a 39-yard touchdown on his only target. Freshmen Amarion Jackson and Karon Brookins also caught a ball each for short gains.

Howard gobbled up most of the yardage, but all the receivers were efficient on Saturday.

Tight Ends: C+

From a box score perspective, Penn State’s tight ends weren’t very effective. Benjamin Brahmer and Andrew Rappleyea were the only tight ends to log a catch. Brahmer secured just one of his three targets, but the lone grab packed a punch for an eight-yard touchdown just before halftime. Rappleyea, who’s been working back from an offseason lower-body procedure, caught his lone target for 18 yards.

The volume simply wasn’t there for the tight ends against Marshall, but they undoubtedly earned their keep as inline blockers, including a standout rep from Rappleyea, who picked up a blitzing defensive back to allow Becht extra time to go through his progressions and find an open Howard for the team’s opening 42-yard touchdown.

Offensive Line: B

Penn State rotated guys in throughout the second half, yet the unit surrendered just one sack all day. Becht in particular had a lot of room to maneuver the pocket and find his guys downfield. However, it’s fair to say the big boys up front weren’t overly successful at moving guys off the line of scrimmage to open up holes in the run game.

We talked earlier about the inefficiency on the blue & white’s backs, but some of that falls on the offensive line. As Penn State encounters better teams, the physicality gap will only shrink, but considering Malachi Goodman, Trevor Buhr, and Brock Riker all made their first start for Penn State on Saturday, there’s no need to be overly critical.

Front Seven: A

The Nittany Lions’ linebackers and defensive linemen thwarted Marshall at the point of attack all day long. Only Tony Rojas and Caleb Bacon came home with a sack, but the front seven corralled the Thundering Herd’s ball carriers and their highly mobile quarterback, Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, who rushed 13 times for a measly 30 yards. Marshall’s runners had just as little success, rushing 13 times for 14 yards. Holding a team to 1.7 yards per carry is as dominant as it gets.

Rojas, Bacon, and the rest of the unit also racked up nine tackles for loss, and six individual players logged at least one quarterback hurry.

Secondary: A-

The Marshall offense was under constant duress, so chasing big plays could have been enticing for Penn State’s secondary, but the coverage stayed tight and disciplined throughout the ballgame. Del Rio-Wilson went 17 for 25, yet he barely cracked 100 passing yards. In fact, eight of his completions came on screen passes. The blue & white defensive backs didn’t allow a single completion of over 15 yards.

The Thundering Herd’s backup quarterback Zion Turner had three pass attempts for a total of one yard. He was also picked off by true freshman Bryson Williams in the fourth quarter.

Special Teams: A

Last but not least are the ‘teamers, who made their presence known in the season opener.

Kicker Ryan Barker was perfect on Saturday, booting through a 38-yard field goal attempt and all six extra-point attempts.

Punter Nate Tiyce punted four times, averaging 43.3 yards per punt. His longest went 55 yards, and another pinned Marshall inside their own one-yard line.

On top of his receiving touchdowns, Robinson handled most of the Nittany Lions’ return duties. He brought the opening kickoff out to the 35-yard line and added 31 punt return yards on his three attempts.

Penn State’s return defense was suffocating, keeping Marshall to an average of 14 yards across their three kickoff return attempts.