Penn State closes the season in College Park with a new coach, a new quarterback, and a rivalry it hasn't lost since before the last realignment scare. Maryland's just trying to survive to see 2027.
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Best BetPenn State
Penn State brings a proven, experienced quarterback in Rocco Becht into a building process, while Maryland is leaning on a sophomore with thin depth behind him. The rivalry history backs it up too — the Nittany Lions have won 4 straight in this series, several by wide margins. Take Penn State to win outright even in a transition year.
Penn State
+Becht brings 26 career wins, proven Big Ten-caliber arm
+Won last 4 meetings vs Maryland, often big margins
+Closed 2025 on 4-game heater, won Pinstripe Bowl
−First year under brand-new coach Matt Campbell
−55 new players, roster continuity largely unproven
−Franklin's mid-season firing still shadows the program
Maryland
+Malik Washington returns after record-setting freshman year
+AD publicly committed more NIL investment for 2026
+Started 2025 4-0 including a road win at Wisconsin
−Back-to-back 4-8 seasons, no bowl in 2025
−Went 1-8 in Big Ten, closed with 5 straight losses
−Lost backup QB depth to transfer portal
This one's a Friday-after-Thanksgiving finale, and by the time it kicks off both programs will have spent all of 2026 answering the same question: is the rebuild working? Penn State fired James Franklin mid-season in 2025 and handed the keys to Matt Campbell, who brought his old Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht along for the ride. Becht arrives with 9,275 career passing yards and an FBS-high 26 wins among returning 2026 starters, which is exactly the kind of resume a first-year staff needs behind center while everything else gets rebuilt around him.
Nearly half of Penn State's 2026 roster is new, with 24 former Iowa State players following Campbell east, so continuity is going to be earned week by week rather than assumed. Maryland's stability question runs the other way — Mike Locksley kept his job despite back-to-back 4-8 seasons, and the pitch from a new AD was more NIL money, not a new voice. The one thing Maryland has that Penn State doesn't is a returning starting quarterback: sophomore Malik Washington, who had a standout freshman year and now inherits a QB room thinned out by transfers who left once he won the job.
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PSU Penn State
MD Maryland
Whatever number the books hang on this game, the recent head-to-head says it should be lopsided. Penn State has won 4 straight meetings in this series, including a 44-7 rout the last time these two played, and Maryland hasn't given the Nittany Lions much reason to think that's changing. A rebuilding roster on one side against a still-thin, still-finding-itself roster on the other is the kind of matchup where the name on the front of the jersey still means a lot.
Penn State Nittany Lions
Nov 20?vs Rutgers—
Nov 13?vs Minnesota—
Nov 6?@ Washington—
Oct 30?vs Purdue—
Oct 16?@ Michigan—
Oct 9?vs USC—
Oct 2?@ Northwestern—
Sep 25?vs Wisconsin—
Sep 19?vs Buffalo—
Sep 12?@ Temple—
Sep 5?vs Marshall—
Maryland Terrapins
Nov 20?@ USC—
Nov 13?vs Wisconsin—
Nov 6?@ Purdue—
Oct 30?vs Illinois—
Oct 16?vs Rutgers—
Oct 9?@ Ohio State—
Oct 2?@ Nebraska—
Sep 25?vs UCLA—
Sep 19?vs Virginia Tech—
Sep 12?@ UConn—
Sep 5?vs Hampton—
Recent form.
Maryland's actual case for hanging around starts and ends with Washington. He's the one proven building block on a roster that finished 1-8 in Big Ten play a year ago, and if he plays like the guy who set freshman records in 2025, this stops being a laugher fast. But Locksley is 41-53 at Maryland heading into his 8th year, and a offense built around one sophomore quarterback with retooled QB depth behind him is not a formula built for absorbing a bad half.
Penn State Nittany Lions
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Maryland Terrapins
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
For Penn State, the whole season is a bet on Campbell and Becht building something real out of a torn-down roster, and a rivalry-week trip to College Park is as good a proving ground as any. The Nittany Lions closed 2025 on a 4-game heater, capped by a Pinstripe Bowl win over Clemson, so there's at least recent evidence this program plays its best football late. Whether that carries over under an entirely new coaching staff is the whole story of Penn State's 2026.
