It’s a sad indictment on the hellscape that has been the 2025 season, but I have to say that last night was the most fun I’ve had watching a Penn State football game all year. And with that, here are my
first batch of position grades in the post-James Franklin era.
Quarterback: C-
At least things went better for the former backup quarterback than last time at Iowa. Ethan Grunkemeyer may have only thrown for 93 yards and a costly interception that gifted Iowa a de-facto pick-six, but he did have a couple of nice scrambles, including one that kept PSU’s opening drive alive and ultimately ended in a touchdown. Grunk did have your usual first-time starter miscues, but he showed a good amount of poise and did not let a bad play or two snowball and get into his head. Jaxon Smolik also saw some reps, but only ever ran the ball, in what was Speed 2: Cruise Control levels of bad for a sequel to Drew Allar and Beau Pribula.
Running Back: A
Good things happen when you feed “Fatman!” Kaytron Allen got the workhorse back treatment, carrying 28 times for 145 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and was by far, the best player on the field last night. Nicholas Singleton did get some action as well, but was once again, completely ineffective.
Wide Receiver: F
Well, at least we finally got to see Koby Howard, a heralded freshman who garnered a ton of Fall camp hype, and he made his first career catch for 14 yards. Overall though, it was a rough night for this group, who were led by Trebor Peña’s three catches for 19 yards. Of course, when he absolutely needed to come down with a catch the most, Peña allowed what should’ve been a TD catch to hit him right in the numbers. Had he come down with it, PSU likely leads Iowa 28-19 with less than five minutes to go and really could’ve had the Hawkeyes on the ropes.
Tight End: D
Dear Andy Kotelnicki: Luke Reynolds is *not* Tyler Warren. You can’t line him up under center and expect him to bull rush his way to pick up that yard needed to get a fresh set of downs on 4th down. While I can’t blame Luke for such a coaching failure, it is fair to blame him for allowing a pass to go off his hands and cause the momentum-shifting interception by Iowa late in the first half that gave the Hawkeyes their first lead of the game.
Offensive Line: B
The run blocking was pretty solid from the O-line, even if the pass blocking felt a bit hit-or-miss.
Defensive Line: F
Once again, zero sacks from the D-line. Why Iowa decided early on to abandon the run and try to throw the ball at all still baffles me, but they damn near handed the game away to PSU because of it. We knew Hawkeye quarterback Mark Gronowski was a capable runner, but how the hell does your front seven allow a guy who is still recovering from a knee injury and nearly didn’t play because of it last week, to run all over you for 130 yards and a pair of TD’s?
Linebacker: F
Seriously, is there ANYBODY else that Penn State can throw out there besides Dom DeLuca?
Secondary: B
Zakee Wheatley had an awesome one-handed interception to set up Grunk’s first drive as PSU’s starting QB with tremendous field position, which ultimately ended in a TD. They also did a good job in coverage on Iowa’s receiver unit. Run support could’ve been better, but it’s up to the front seven to prevent Gronowski and the Hawkeyes from gashing them in the first place.
Special Teams: A-
For the third straight week, we had a special teams TD go for naught. Xavier Gilliam’s block of a 66-yard field goal attempt that everybody in the building knew was going to be woefully short and Elliott Washington scooping it up to shockingly give PSU a halftime lead when it looked like the Nittany Lions would be trailing by field goal was pure comedy gold and should have had Iowa fans angrily pointing to after a humiliating loss. Ryan Barker also remains money, nailing his lone field goal attempt of the night, and Gabe Nwosu did a good job booming his kickoffs for touchbacks, although one of his punts was returned for 26 yards.
Coaching: C
Kudos to Terry Smith for getting what had to be a down locker room after the news of James Franklin’s firing to get up and play like a team that actually gave a damn and still had some pride left. Unfortunately for Terry, he still has a pair of coordinators who are practically stealing money at this point (particularly, on offense).
(BONUS CATEGORY) Effort: A
There are no moral victories, but given all that’s transpired in the past week, nobody would’ve been surprised if this team just went through the motions and got blown out at Kinnick Stadium last night. Instead, we saw an inspired effort that quite frankly, should’ve ended with a three-game losing skid ending. Alas, we’ll be waiting another month for a possibility of that skid coming to a close.
