IOWA CITY, Iowa – Ethan Grunkemeyer couldn’t have picked a more difficult venue to make the first start of his Penn State career than Kinnick Stadium.
Grunkemeyer withstood the sellout crowd and held his own against Iowa’s sturdy defense in the Nittany Lions’ 25-24 loss Saturday night.
“I thought Ethan played a pretty solid game,” interim Penn State coach Terry Smith said. “I thought he managed the line of scrimmage and the calls at the line of scrimmage. He handled the crowd, which was electric.
“We didn’t have any miscues with communication at the line of scrimmage. He did a terrific job with that.”
Grunkemeyer, a redshirt freshman, completed 15-of-28 passes for 93 yards. He threw two interceptions in the second quarter, one on a deep sideline pass that served as a punt and the second on a slant pattern that the Hawkeyes turned into a touchdown.
“Not good enough,” he said when asked how he thought he played. “We lost the game. We gotta get better and learn from it.”
Grunkemeyer replaced three-year starting quarterback Drew Allar, who suffered a season-ending leg injury last week against Northwestern. He didn’t seem to panic or have trouble getting the offense lined up in the correct positions.
“He played well,” running back Kaytron Allen said. “He came into a tough environment, stood up to the challenge and played well. But I knew he was going to play well because he prepared like that all week and each and every week, even when he wasn’t the starter.
“He’s chill, got swag, calm, poised. He’s going to be a great quarterback.”
Penn State also used Iowa native Jaxon Smolik at quarterback, sometimes together with Grunkemeyer. Smolik gained 3 yards on four rushes without throwing a pass. He left the game with an upper-body injury after absorbing a hard tackle in the fourth quarter.
“He did a great job with the reps that he got,” Grunkemeyer said. “That was a huge thing, keeping the defense honest with the legs.”
Smith said he also used Smolik to keep Iowa’s defense off balance.
“Smolik brings more athleticism,” Smith said. “I just wanted to give those guys a lot to prepare for and to see if there was a play or two he could make.”
Allen rolls: Allen carried a season-high 28 times for 145 yards in his best game of the year, scoring on runs of 1 and 8 yards.
“This was my type of game,” he said. “I love to play in games like this with our backs against the wall. I like to come out through the storm.”
Allen and former Gov. Mifflin star Nick Singleton did not split playing time for the second straight game. Singleton ran just six times for 15 yards.
“That’s my dog,” Allen said about Singleton. “We just try to push each other each and every day. We came into this thing together. Unfortunately things didn’t go our way. But we’ve still got to finish.”
Blocked kick: Penn State blocked a kick for the second straight game when defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam swatted Drew Stevens’ 66-yard field goal late in the second quarter.
Elliot Washington II scooped up the ball and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown, which gave Penn State a 14-10 halftime lead.
“I felt like I had an opportunity to get that and come up big for my team,” Gilliam said. “I went through, put my hand up and got a good piece of it, actually got the whole ball, got the block and Elliot was able to scoop it. Great play for us. Great momentum going into the half.”
Dani Dennis-Sutton has blocked two punts this season, one last week against Northwestern. Dominic DeLuca blocked a punt last month against Florida International.
Smith, though, was more concerned with Cam Wallace fumbling a kickoff. He recovered it, but it was the second straight week that the Lions fumbled a return. Last week against Northwestern, Devonte Ross lost a fumbled punt, which set up a field goal for the Wildcats.
“All three areas need improvement,” Smith said. “In our special teams, we continue to have problems handling punts and kicks.”
