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When the 2025 college football season started, this week’s matchup for the Iowa Hawkeyes hosting Penn State sang a much different tune than it does now. Still a massively important game and a sellout, things have drastically changed for the Nittany Lions in the last few days.
Penn State lost starting quarterback Drew Allar to a season-ending injury that occured last weekend in a loss to Penn State. Following that loss, Penn State made the decision to fire head coach James Franklin.
The Iowa Hawkeyes will now get a Penn State team with a backup quarterback, Ethan Grunkemeyer, and an interim head coach, Terry Smith, on Saturday night, which is something that Kirk Ferentz will not be taking lightly.
“This one is really easy. All you have to do is look at the tape, any segment. Just look at the tape. They’re probably not smart enough to play here if they don’t see it. You’ve got to respect these guys have really good players.
“As I mentioned, they’ve got three coordinators that are really respected in the business by everybody. Two are very well-known. I think their special teams coordinator, he’s actually out of that Erie mafia, if you will, the Hinkel, Bob Sanders era. I’m pretty sure he went to Prep, Cathedral Prep, too, and he’s an outstanding special teams coach and has been for a long time, before he went to Penn State. He’s really a guy who has rightfully garnered a very lofty reputation as a special teams coach.
“They got good players, good coaches, and there’s going to be nothing easy about this game. I know that,” Ferentz said about facing an interim head coach and backup QB.
Ethan Grunkemeyer, a product of Olentangy High School and Lewis Center, Ohio, was a four-star recruit in the class of 2024, ranked as the No. 7 QB and No. 5 player from Ohio, per 247Sports. On the year, he is 8-11 for 105 yards and one touchdown in limited playing time. He also has four carries for eight yards and a score.
Coaching the Nittany Lions will be interim head coach Terry Smith. He played at Penn State from 1987 to 1991 as a wide receiver and joined the coaching staff in 2014. Since 2016, he has been the associate head coach.
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