Category: Penn State

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State’s once-dynamic offense has faltered this season.

During last year’s College Football Playoff run, the unit ranked 26th in the nation in total offense. Andy Kotelnicki’s flashy play calling enabled Drew Allar to take deep shots, Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen to each rush for over 1,000 yards, and Tyler Warren to win the Mackey Award as college football’s best tight end.

But the Nittany Lions’ offensive production has plummeted through seven games. The group has gone from averaging 430.2 yards per game to just 355, which ranks 97th among Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

So, what has gone wrong?

“I don’t know,” said Kotelnicki, the team’s offensive coordinator. “The reality is it hasn’t gone like we’re hoping. And what do you do? You go to the next play, you go to the next game, you go to the next moment and opportunity. I don’t have a good explanation for where [the offense] is.”

Penn State has passed for 250 yards just twice through Kotelnicki’s 23 games as offensive coordinator, its last such performance coming last October.

The offense has thrown for fewer than 150 passing yards in three of its seven games this season. Against Iowa, first-time starter Ethan Grunkemeyer finished with a 93 yards, the lowest passing mark for Penn State this year. His longest pass was for 14 yards.

Allar’s 67-yard completion to Devonte Ross, a drag route the speedy receiver turned into a big gain against Florida International, is the team’s longest pass play this season.

Interim head coach Terry Smith wants that to change.

“On offense, we continue to not be able to throw the ball down the field, or even throw the ball in the intermediate zone,” Smith said. “We’ve gotta get that fixed.”

But it’s not just the passing game.

Nick Singleton, who rushed 172 times for a career-best 1,099 yards in 2024, has struggled to find rushing lanes in 2025. The senior running back is averaging just 3.6 yards per carry compared to 6.8 in his freshman campaign and 6.4 last season.

Singleton is known for his speed, but he has yet to break a run longer than 16 yards and has eclipsed 50 rushing yards just twice through seven games.

Smith said he wants to get Singleton going. Kotelnicki said Singleton’s superpower is finding lanes and hitting them with speed.

“[Nick] has great speed,” Kotelnicki said. “We need to do a good job of getting him on the perimeter, allowing him to get some edges where his speed can show up.”

A steep climb

With Allar lost for the season, Grunkemeyer will quarterback the Nittany Lions’ offense in Columbus against No. 1 Ohio State on Nov. 1 (noon, Fox 29), before facing No. 2 Indiana at Beaver Stadium on Nov. 8. The redshirt sophomore completed 15 of his 28 pass attempts and threw two interceptions in Penn State’s 25-24 loss to Iowa last Saturday.

But considering the circumstances, starting his first college game in a tough road environment, Grunkemeyer’s performance wasn’t all bad. At least in Kotelnicki’s view.

“There are things that he does really well with his feet. He makes quick decisions, and he goes. That was evident,” Kotelnicki said of Grunkemeyer. “There were some opportunities that he missed or got off the read too fast, but those are things you would expect to say about somebody who got their first career start.”

Kotelnicki’s confidence stems from Grunkemeyer’s preparation while serving as the team’s QB2. The second and third tests of that preparation: The nation’s No. 1 and No. 4 scoring defenses.

Kotelnicki said he is “pleased” with the direction his young quarterback is trending in entering the team’s toughest stretch.

“I [anticipate] that through this bye week and the next week, there’s a ton of growth from start one to start two,” Kotelnicki said. “How we practiced, how we prepared him, the number of reps we’ve gotten him through all the spring and in the moments where he’s gotten into games has prepared him for how he’s going to handle those things.”

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State didn’t play scared in its 25-24 loss to Iowa on Saturday.

Interim head coach Terry Smith, who took over after James Franklin’s dismissal last Sunday, trusted his first-time starting quarterback in a hostile environment. He allowed Kaytron Allen to be a workhorse running back. He went for it on several fourth downs, including one at his team’s 40-yard line.

Most importantly, he showed belief in a group searching for some confidence amid an emotional coaching change and a three-game slide.

His team repaid that trust against the Hawkeyes (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten), enough to earn a chance to win late. But Ethan Grunkemeyer’s fourth-down heave fell incomplete, and so did the Nittany Lions’ comeback bid.

Smith asked his players to leave it all on the field. His message was well received.

“I think our guys played hard. I think our guys left it out there,” Smith said. “They gave everything they had. There was no one who didn’t give great effort. We just have to execute.”

Penn State (3-4, 0-4) fell under .500 for the first time since 2021, the same year it last lost four straight games.

Emptying the clip

Under Franklin, Penn State stuck to a script. It played the same players, no matter their production, and rarely gambled on fourth down or in end-of-half situations.

Saturday showcased Smith’s differing approach, one that asked his team to “empty the clip.”

Penn State converted two fourth downs on its first scoring drive and later attempted two more. Its offense aggressively pushed to score at the end of the first half rather than worrying about handing its opponent an extra possession, which Franklin did against UCLA earlier this season.

“We knew coming into the game we wanted to be aggressive,” Smith said. “You’re on the road at night in a place like this. You have to come to win. You can’t try to just lose your way into victory.”

Smith played several players who rarely, if ever, saw action through the first six games. Notably, Koby Howard and Jaxon Smolik, who both had not played since Sept. 13.

Howard, a freshman wide receiver, caught a 14-yard pass in the opening quarter for his first collegiate reception. Smolik, Penn State’s speedy backup quarterback, ran several option plays, an added element to Andy Kotelnicki’s offense. He finished with four carries before exiting with an injury and returning with an air cast on his left arm.

Smith also relied heavily on Allen, who entered Saturday tied in total carries with Nick Singleton despite averaging nearly 3 more yards per carry. Against Iowa, Allen rushed a career-high 28 times for 145 yards and two touchdowns. Singleton rushed six times for 15 yards, both season lows.

When Smith assumed the interim title, he said no one would question his team’s effort. That included Allen, who refused to quit amid Penn State’s four-game slide.

“I’m all about playing football for my team,” Allen said. “I would never quit on my team, never quit on anybody. That’s just who I am. Whatever I start, I’ve got to finish.”

Getting used to QB1

Grunkemeyer’s inexperience showed in his first collegiate start.

In a hostile environment, he seemed to rush his decisions. And against the nation’s No. 8 scoring defense, his two interceptions proved costly.

The redshirt sophomore completed 15 of his 28 pass attempts for 93 yards. He pushed Penn State to midfield on its final drive but couldn’t march farther.

“Not good enough,” Grunkemeyer said. “We lost the game, so [we’ve] got to get better and learn from it.”

His biggest blunder came late in the first half when he tossed a third-down pass off Luke Reynolds’ face mask and into an awaiting Iowa defender’s grasp. The Hawkeyes followed with a touchdown to take the lead. Smith said Grunkemeyer forced his throw to Reynolds but praised his overall performance.

“I thought [Grunkemeyer’s] game was solid,” Smith said. “I thought he managed the line of scrimmage, the calls at the line of scrimmage, and handled the crowd.”

It wasn’t all bad for Grunkemeyer, who led two 10-play scoring drives and completed five straight passes in the second quarter.

Up next

Penn State gets to regroup on a bye week before its road clash with No. 1 Ohio State (7-0, 4-0) on Nov. 1.