IOWA CITY, IOWA — Penn State and Iowa almost always play it close. Five of their last seven games have been decided by six points or less. Including here on Saturday night.
So, yes, the final score was pretty par for the course: The Hawkeyes won 25-24, overcoming a 21-10 lead as their quarterback Matt Gronowski ran for 130 yards and passed for 68 more. Not normal for the home team QB, but totally believable. It’s Iowa.
Kirk Ferentz’s call for a 66-yard field goal that Penn State’s Xavier Gilliam blocked and Elliot Washington II turned into a TD? Not normal. Of course, the trip to Kinnick Stadium was anything but normal for Penn State — except maybe for the loss, as PSU is now riding a four-game losing streak. That’s a new normal.
The Nittany Lions had an interim coach, in Terry Smith. They had, essentially, an interim QB in Ethan Grunkemeyer. I mean, who knows who will be the starter next season? Or if Grunk will even be on the 2026 roster.
There’s just so many questions. So many. In this week’s Top 10, we try to answer a few of them, intentionally staying away from Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft’s head coaching search. That’s literally a story for another day.
(Looking for something nice? Read my report from Iowa City on Friday.)
ANOTHER WEAKLY TOP 10
1. Who did Penn State miss more on Saturday during the game — James Franklin or Drew Allar? You have to think it’s Allar. Grunkemeyer’s inexperience showed. Repeatedly, and not just on his two picks. Even given Allar’s recent propensity for late-game miscues, and the fact that Penn State was playing .500 ball (5-5) under his leadership the past 10 games, Allar is clearly the better QB than Grunk. Smith, on the other hand, had few head-scratching coaching decisions and got the effort and O-line play that his predecessor ultimately in the end could not.
1a. Even if Allar had only had his bare-minimum performance, that would have far outweighed what Grunk produced. (Acknowledging that Allar threw for only 137 yards vs. both Oregon and Northwestern.) Fourteen of PSU’s points against Iowa came via or were set up by turnovers: the blocked field goal TD return Washington II and a 35-yard drive following Zakee Wheatley’s pick. Here is an average game for Allar in 2025 vs. Grunk’s stat line against Iowa:
2. How did Smith do? It was a strong effort by the former Nittany Lion co-captain, from the minute Kraft gave him the reins to his post-game press conference in a challenging circumstance. Smith held the team and staff together after getting the job at the very last minute on Sunday. His fingerprints were all over the ball-carry distribution between running backs Kaytron Allen (28 for 145 yards) and Nick Singleton (6 for 15). And he delivered on his promise that his team was going to play tougher and grittier, not an easy task when the nighttime stage was a very loud Kinnick Stadium — I’m guessing 96% of the 69,250 on hand were Hawkeye fans.
2a. To me, Smith’s post-game comments, candid and raw, showed a high level of awareness, honesty and accountability — some things missing from these situations for quite awhile. A straight-talker, Smith truly “gets it” and actually delineates what IT is: “Obviously very disappointing loss,” Smith said in his opening statement. “Very disappointing the way we lost. I don’t feel like we made them earn it at the very end. All three areas [offense, defense, and special teams] need improvement. In our special teams, we continue to have problems handling punts and kicks, just making good decisions with the football there.
“On offense, we continue to not be able to throw the ball down the field or even throw the ball in the intermediate zone. So, we got to get that fixed. Defense — we can’t get stops when we need stops. It’s glaring, and I have to get it fixed. We’re going to take the bye week and try to get those three areas cleaned up and better for when we go to Ohio State.”
3. How close is Penn State, now 3-4, to being 7-0? Technically — 17 points. They lost their last four games by 6 points (in double overtime), 5 points, 1 point and 1 point. Realistically — worlds away.
4. How tough of a watch has the fourth quarter been for Nittany Nation? Couldn’t be worse. The past four games, it all goes to hell in a handbasket for Penn State in the final minutes. Here is how and when the opposing team put the dagger into the Nittany Lions and their fans’ hearts, i.e., scored the final margin of victory; all came in the final minutes or 2OT:
Oregon — touchdown, second overtime (60-plus minutes), 30-24
UCLA — touchdown, 6:41 fourth quarter, 42-28 (final: 42-37)
Northwestern — touchdown, 4:51 fourth quarter, 22-21
Iowa — touchdown, 3:54 fourth quarter, 25-24
4a. How bad is the Nittany Lions’ freefall? Historic. Only five teams in the past 40 years were ranked in The Associated Press’ preseason Top 5 — and then lost at least four of their first seven games. Those teams:
2025 — Penn State (3-4), Clemson (3-4)
2017 — Florida State (2-5)
2005 — Tennessee (3-4)
2000 — Alabama (3-4)
4b. Penn State started the preseason No. 2 in the AP poll (voted by media) and No. 3 in the AFCA Coaches Poll. Tracking the fall in the AP poll, by week:
Preseason — 2nd
Weeks 2, 3, 4 — 2nd
Week 5 — 3rd
Week 6 — 7th
Week 7 — 28th
Weeks 8, 9 — not ranked
4c. This is Penn State’s fourth 0-4 start in conference play since the Nittany Lions joined the Big Ten in 1993. The others: 2003, 2004, 2014. PSU, and Franklin, last lost four games in a row to begin the 2020 COVID season, actually starting 0-5 (all in Big Ten games). Since joining the B10, Penn State has twice lost six B10 games to start conference play, in 2003 and 2004.
4d. Reminder: Next up for Penn State are No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana (see No. 9a.)
5. What was that big IF that was on the grey T-shirts, with the Penn State logo, that all the Penn State players and coaches wore when they exited the team bus Saturday at Kinnick Stadium? Flip the initials and you get FI, for “F*** It.” Here’s how Allen explained it after the game: “It was basically like if you mess up, just f*** it. It happens. You got to get the next play. Six-second mentality. Do what you got to do.”
6. What if in the offseason Franklin had hired D’Anton Lynn and/or Andy Kotelnicki was hired as the head coach at West Virginia? James might still be head coach. Lynn, the former Penn State cornerback who is now the USC defensive coordinator, was Franklin’s target for DC after Tom Allen left for Clemson. Ultimately, Lynn turned the job down and Franklin hired Jim Knowles. As Franklin used to like to say, “You can make a case…” that if Lynn had come to PSU, his defense would not have been as complicated, at age 35 Lynn would have related better to the players, and he would been able to rally them when desperately needed; plus, he is not the yeller that Knowles can be. So, maybe, Franklin would not have lost all three of those games.
6a. As for Kotelnicki, he was a candidate for the head coaching position at West Virginia, and he pulled himself out of the running. His return helped trigger Allar’s return, which helped trigger some of his teammates’ return. Let’s say Coach K left, but Allar stayed. Perhaps the new OC would have brought in an offense that was: a.) Better suited for Allar’s pro style skills; b.) Better incorporated the three rent-for-hire new wide reviewers; and c.) Relied more on Allen’s rugged running skills. But, we’ll never know.
7. What did I think of Franklin’s appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday? In one big way, it was eerily reminiscent of his 2025 preseason pronouncements that Penn State had its best coaching and personnel in his 12 seasons at Penn State. As I pointed out later, he wrote two new checks he couldn’t cash. He may have done the same thing on Saturday, when he said:
• “I thought we were going to win a national championship there. We were close. That goal hasn’t changed. We’re just going to go win a national championship somewhere else.”
• “And I can’t wait for that next challenge, and we’re going to go win a national championship at the highest level.”
8. Hey, were those two former Nittany Lion QBs on the college football highlight show on Saturday? After getting back to my hotel room late Saturday night from Kinnick, I turned on ESPN’s College Football Final (it was a repeat showing). And there, prominently featured, were former Nittany Lion quarterbacks Beau Pribula of Missouri Ta’Quan Roberson of Buffalo. I was particularly happy to see Roberson, given that it has been 1,470 days (210 weeks) since Oct. 9, 2021, when Roberson came on in relief of Sean Clifford in Kinnick and had, quite possibly, the worst night of his life. Here’s how those two ex-PSU QB’s are doing:
Ta’Quan Roberson, Buffalo (4-3, 3-0):
114-188-1,337 yds. (60.6%), 10 TDs, 3 int.
Beau Pribula, Missouri (6-1, 2-1 ):
149-213-1,617 yds. (70%), 11 TDs, 7 int.
9. Will Penn State go to a bowl game at the end of the regular season? Probably not. So many factors come into play. Usually, teams need six wins to qualify for a postseason bowl game (though occasionally, if there are not enough qualifiers, 5-7 teams are invited).
9a. Can the Nittany Lions win three more games to get to six? Ohio State (Nov. 1 at The Horseshoe) and Indiana (Nov. 8, Beaver Stadium) appear to be losses. And if that’s the case, it is hard to see the Nittany Lions shaking off a six-game losing streak to finish with three consecutive wins at Michigan State (Nov. 15); against Nebraska and the job-interviewing Matt Rhule at Beaver Stadium (Nov. 22); and at Rutgers after Thanksgiving (Nov. 29)
9b. On top of that, the Nittany Lions are a team full of seniors (and older), who may just want to put the 2025 horror show of a season behind them and get ready for the NFL Combine, Pro Day and the NFL Draft. Even with six wins, they may have had enough. And, really, haven’t you? (See 9d.)
9c. Depending on who the new head coach is and when he is officially hired, Kraft may want him in Unhappy Valley ASAP. Like the day after the Rutgers game. Analyzing, retaining/recruiting and/or dismissing players, staff and coaches will be Job 1 for the new head coach. Just after that, handling a new class of recruits, then analyzing and acting on the portal. A bowl game may just get in the way.
9d. Will fans want to shell out the bucks to go to a bowl game by the time the regular season ends in 41 days, even if Penn State gets to six wins? My question, your answer.
10. What is the biggest plus of the upcoming Bye Week for Penn State? Beyond the obvious of the Nittany Lions taking much-needed time off to regroup, both physically and mentally, it’s that Kraft’s ICA department will save some money by not renting any helicopters for recruiting.
