Saturday night was the first game for interim head coach Terry Smith and quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, but it led to a familiar result for Penn State. The Nittany Lions fell in a 25-24 nail-biter to Iowa, dropping to 3-4 on the season. Did Grunkemeyer’s first game provide any hope for the Penn State faithful? Here is a look at his performance, and the rest of this week’s postgame grades for the Nittany Lions.
Quarterbacks: D
Grunkemeyer and Jaxon Smolik alternated snaps at quarterback for Penn State, though Grunkemeyer was the only quarterback to throw a pass. Smolik ran option plays, keeping the ball four times for three yards rushing and handing it off on his other snaps. It felt similar to how Drew Allar and Beau Pribula split snaps last season, though Grunkmeyer doesn’t throw as well as Allar, and Smolik doesn’t run as well as Pribula. Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki has always liked a two-quarterback system, but the options he has at Penn State doesn’t lend itself well to that scheme.
The passing game was shaky for Penn State. Grunkemeyer went 15-for-28 for 93 yards and two interceptions, the second of which led to an Iowa touchdown. Grunkemeyer had a hard time getting into a rhythm and was quick to scramble even when he had a clean pocket. There were some nice plays, like his shifty fourth-and-4 run in the first quarter and a nice throw over the middle to Koby Howard in the second, but there was also a mix of errant throws and short runs.
Penn State was only 6-of-16 on third downs against Iowa, and a big reason was because of how inconsistent the passing game was. Yes, it’s the first start for Grunkemeyer with this offense, but things need to get figured out quickly if the Nittany Lions want any chance to hang around with No. 1 Ohio State in two weeks.
Running backs: A
Kaytron Allen was elite as Penn State’s bell cow, picking up 152 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 31 total touches. Meanwhile, Nicholas Singleton has been fully relegated to the team’s No. 2 back, only gaining 15 yards on six carries. Allen had more carries than Singleton against Northwestern last week, and that differential increased against Iowa. Unless the passing game improves, the Nittany Lions will need to rely on Allen to keep them ahead of the sticks on first and second down. He’s capable, but it also is a predictable strategy for opposing defenses to stop.
Wide receivers and tight ends: C
Penn State really couldn’t get the ball to its wide receivers on Saturday night, both due to the run-first offense and because Grunkemeyer didn’t have much time to find his receivers. Trebor Peña and Devonte Ross got involved on some short passes, and it was nice to see freshman Koby Howard make his first-career catch. Redshirt freshman Tyseer Denmark also got on the field, though he didn’t make a catch. Starting wideout Kyron Hudson failed to make a catch for the second time this season.
The tight ends were more productive, led by Luke Reynolds’ three catches for 16 yards. No. 3 tight end Andrew Rappleyea made an appearance with a big first-down reception by third-and-11. Khalil Dinkins made one catch for 10 yards and also contributed nicely as a run-blocker. All three tight ends are big targets for Penn State’s young quarterback, and it’d be nice to see them get even more involved in the receiving game.
Defense: C
Iowa didn’t exactly set the world on fire with its 313 total yards on offense, but the Hawkeyes did enough to win thanks to some back-breaking lapses from the Penn State defense. Most of the damage came on the ground; running back Kamari Moulton picked up 99 yards on 17 carries, while quarterback Mark Gronowski led the team with 130 yards rushing and two touchdowns. The Nittany Lions didn’t do a good job of spying Gronowski on passing plays, and they were very undisciplined in their assignments during options plays, letting the quarterback torch them on long runs.
The big bright spot for the defense is safety Zakee Wheatley. The senior flew around the field on Saturday night, making a one-handed interception in the first quarter and a number of clutch open-field tackles. It was also nice to see some young defenders stepping up like defensive lineman Yvon Kemajou and safety Dejuan Lane. Still, the performance was overall not good enough for a defense with this much talent.
Special teams: B
The field goal block unit came up huge at the end of the first half. Xavier Gilliam got his hand on the kick, and Elliot Washington II scooped up the ball for the big touchdown. That being said, the kick and punt coverage unit weren’t great against returnman Kaden Wetjen. Wetjen had a 25-yard punt return and a 26-yard kick return on his only opportunities, so Penn State will want to tighten that up.
Coaching: B
Nothing seemed different when comparing Terry Smith’s game management to James Franklin’s. Smith was aggressive on fourth downs, including two conversions on the opening touchdown drive. I also liked the aggressive use of timeouts in the first half to get the ball back for the offense, even though they failed to score on that possession.
The only real complaint I had was when Penn State went for it on fourth-and-1 on its own 40-yard line late in the third quarter. The decision to go for it was fine, but the play call was not. Luke Reynolds motioned under center and took the snap, but he couldn’t push ahead for a first down. I would’ve liked to just see Penn State give the ball to Kaytron Allen, who was averaging over five yards per carry and is a stronger runner than Reynolds.
Overall: D
Once again, Penn State lost a winnable game. The Nittany Lions have lost four straight one-score games, and it’s hard to feel positive about this team for the rest of the season given how difficult the remaining schedule is. There’s individual positives like Allen and Wheatley, but it’s otherwise been a disappointing period for this program.
Penn State will have its second bye week of the season next weekend. The following week, the Nittany Lions will take on No. 1 Ohio State on the road.