Rocco Becht

Rocco Becht ( ; born November 12, 2003) is an American college football quarterback for the Penn State Nittany Lions. He previously played for the Iowa State Cyclones.

Early life Becht attended Wiregrass Ranch High School in Wesley Chapel, Florida. During his career, he passed for 5,343 yards and 65 touchdowns. He committed to Iowa State University to play college football.

College career Iowa State Cyclones

Becht played in three games his first year at Iowa State in 2022, completing seven of 13 passes for 65 yards, and took a redshirt. He entered his redshirt freshman year in 2023 as the team's starting quarterback.

In his first start, he completed 10 of 13 passes for 113 yards with two touchdowns. In the 2023 season, he took over as the starting quarterback as a result of Hunter Dekkers leaving the university after a gambling probe. Becht guided the Cyclones to a 7–5 record (6–3 in the Big 12) before losing in the Liberty Bowl to Memphis, 36–26. He threw for 3,210 yards for 23 touchdowns and 8 interceptions that season.

In 2024, he sent his team to the Big 12 championship game at Arlington, Texas against first year Big 12 and surprising 10–2 Arizona State Sun Devils. Iowa State ended up losing that game, 45–19 where he threw for 214 yards, 2 touchdowns and one interception. In the Pop Tarts Bowl against the Miami Hurricanes on December 28, 2024, he ran into the end zone for a touchdown with 56 seconds left, winning a come from behind game 42–41, in Orlando, Florida. He also threw for 270 yards and 3 touchdowns in that game.

Following the 2025 season, Becht entered the transfer portal with 26 career wins as a starting quarterback, the most of any active FBS quarterback at that time.

Penn State Nittany Lions On January 4, 2026, Becht committed to the Penn State Nittany Lions. His commitment comes after Penn State's hiring of Matt Campbell, who was the head coach at Iowa State throughout Becht's college career. Statistics Season Team Games Passing Rushing 2022 Iowa State 3 0 — 7 15 46.7 65 4.3 0 1 69.7 1 2 2.0 0 2023 Iowa State 13 13 7−6 231 367 62.9 3,120 8.5 23 8 150.7 62 63 1.0 3 2024 Iowa State 14 14 11−3 271 456 59.4 3,505 7.7 25 9 138.1 98 318 3.2 8 2025 Iowa State 12 12 8−4 205 339 60.5 2,584 7.6 16 9 134.8 86 116 1.3 8 2026 Penn State Career 42 39 26−13 714 1,177 60.7 9,274 7.9 64 27 140.2 247 499 2.0 19

Personal life His father, Anthony Becht, played tight end in the National Football League. His father is the current coach of the UFL Orlando Storm.