Penn State QB has ambitious goal for 2026 season

Although it was just 18 months ago, it seems like a handful of years have passed since Penn State lost narrowly to the Oregon Ducks in the College Football Playoff. Since then, James Franklin got fired, Drew Allar moved on to the NFL, Matt Campbell was hired to be the new head coach, and the program was forced to go through a dramatic overhaul that caused unbalance that it had not seen in more than a decade.

Despite all the tumult, the Nittany Lions are building strong recruiting classes for the future and have reignited the fanbase and the national media’s faith in them. They got a lucky break this year with scheduling, forcing everyone to recalibrate their expectations for the team, and the players are the best example of that.

Quarterback Jack Lambert spoke with PFSN this week, telling them, “Even in year one, the goal is the national championship.” This may seem ambitious, but Campbell typically overachieved with his Iowa State teams before joining the Nittany Lions. After absorbing this, it doesn’t seem so farfetched that he could achieve such a momentous feat at a school with much more resources and talent.

This may not be the most loaded roster Penn State has ever had, but as we learned from the Indiana Hoosiers last season, you can win it all with an experienced roster that has camaraderie. That’s exactly what we have here in Happy Valley, with Campbell bringing a bunch of his old players over to hold down the fort until they can get reinforcements.