Players of the game for Penn State's Week 1 win over Marshall

Well, it’s safe to say that the new-look Nittany Lions understood the assignment. In Matt Campbell’s first game as the head coach of the Nittany Lions, he had his squad firing on all cylinders in a commanding 45-0 win over the Marshall Thundering Herd.

Quarterback Rocco Becht looked like the most experienced QB in the FBS, and receiver Koby Howard looked like a revelation with 161 receiving yards. On the defensive side of the ball, new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s guys were flying, led by spirited efforts from Tony Rojas and Caleb Bacon.

Here are the players of the game for the Nittany Lions.

You remember when Rocco Becht mentioned that he would try to get Koby Howard over 1,000 receiving yards in the year? They got right to it Saturday afternoon with Howard putting on a clinic.

Penn State fans have been begging for a star receiver, and they may finally have one on their hands. With 6 catches and 161 yards, Howard was the leading receiver on the day and flashed his elite skill set, with one of his catches from redshirt freshman QB Alex Manske being one of his highlight catches on the day.

Rocco → Koby for the fist TD of the season ✔️

LIVE on @FS1pic.twitter.com/GUhDyUa2Nh

— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) September 5, 2026

Who knew that Penn State’s best offensive weapon was in-house all along? The race for 1,000 yards for Howard has truly begun.

When three Iowa State linebackers transferred to Happy Valley, everyone expected that Kooper Ebel would be the best of the bunch. After all, he was the leading tackler for the Cyclones and was entrusted this offseason with relaying the play calls to the defense. Add in the much-awaited return of Tony Rojas and chances are may Penn State fans may have forgotten about Caleb Bacon.

However, he showed up in style in Week 1. He led the team in TFLs and was a major part of containing Marshall’s dual-threat QB Carlos Del Rio-Wilson. He proved that the transfers will certainly bring the fire for the Nittany Lions defense and that everyone will remember his name.

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This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Players of the game for Penn State’s Week 1 win over Marshall