2025 PSU at Iowa

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#NR/NR PSU 24 Iowa 25

Game Flow & Summary

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Game Seven

First Half

• This game marked the first of the post-Franklin era. But Iowa at night is not the place to go when you desperately need to right the ship. It would prove to be a difficult debut for Interim Head Coach Terry Smith and Redshirt-Freshman QB Ethan Grunkemeyer who was making his first start in place of injured veteran Drew Allar.

• The team arrived at Kinnick Stadium wearing “IF” t-shirts which may have been a reference to the Rudyard Kipling poem that Paterno had once used as a motivator. But Smith would say later that “IF” meant a lot of different things to the team including the two words created by reversing the letters to “F*** I*”.

• A career-best rushing night for Kaytron Allen and the first “Block Six” of a field goal since 2016 Ohio State were not enough to overcome the issues that have plagued the Nittany Lions since the beginning of the Big Ten season. The passing game sputtered, and yet another opponent’s running QB had a field day at the Lions expense. An 11-point lead midway through the 3rd period provided Penn State fans with false hope. The end was a fourth straight loss; the second in a row by a single point that established an unwanted footnote in the PSU record book. Penn State sits 3-4, 0-4 with #1 Ohio State and newly promoted #2 Indiana waiting in the wings.

• Iowa won the coin toss and oddly decided to take the ball instead of doing what seemed obvious; handing the keys to the newly minted Penn State starting QB and immediately making him face the tough Hawkeyes defense—Gabe Nwosu’s kickoff would be a touchback setting up the hosts at their 25-yard line

• 1st quarter begins—Iowa 1st possession was a 3-and-out the fun way for Penn State fans—3 yards, 3 plays and an interception—Iowa opens with a 3-yard run and an incomplete pass—On 3rd and 7 at their 28, Mark Gronowski QB passes over the middle, but Zakee Wheatley S makes a leaping, one-handed grab at the 37 and is down after a 2-yard return to set up the Lions very nicely at the Iowa 35 (it was Wheatley’s 1st INT of the season/6th of his career)

• PSU 1st possession took a tad longer than one would like when covering only 35 yards—But, at least, the 10 plays resulted in 7 points—The drive also saw the official starting debut of Ethan Grunkemeyer QB and a special appearance by seldom seen backup Jaxon Smolik QB—The first 3 plays featured Grunk’s first completion and a net gain of 6 yards—On 4th and 4 at the 31, PSU goes for it, Grunkemeyer beats the Iowa blitz with a 9-yard run up the middle to the 20—Kaytron Allen RB goes up the middle for 7 yards—Jaxon Smolik checks in and delivers his most effective run of the night, 3 yards to the 10 for the first down—After an incomplete pass, Grunk pitches to Trebor Pena who turns the right corner for 9 yards to the Iowa 1—The 3rd and goal pass for Andrew Rappleyea TE is pressured and broken-up—On 4th and goal from the 1, Kaytron Allen doesn’t make it up the middle, but the Hawkeyes are flagged for offsides—4th and goal (take 2), Kaytron up the middle for the 1 yard TD (8th of the season/32nd of career)—Kaytron has scored a rushing TD in all 7 PSU games this season—Ryan Barker’s PAT kick makes it Penn State 7-0 with 8:45 to go in the 1st period

• Iowa 2nd possession will be a little more to their liking—After the touchback on the Gabe Nwosu kickoff, the Hawkeyes move 54 yards on 9 plays for the field goal—Mark Gronowski gets Iowa rolling with a 12-yard pass to Kaden Wetjen—Kamari Moulton RB gets the ball 4 straight times and runs for 8, 8, 9, and 13 yards to the Penn State 25—Zakee Wheatley stops the forward motion pressuring Gronowski into an incomplete pass on 1st down—A short run and another incomplete pass on 3rd down stall the drive—On 4th and 6 at the 21, Drew Stevens is out to attempt the 39-yard field goal—It’s good—Penn State’s lead over Iowa is cut to 7-3 with 4:24 to go in the 1st period

• PSU 2nd possession gets off to a bumpy start with yet another mishandling of a kickoff and there’s little improvement due, in part, to musical quarterbacks—Cam Wallace RB bobbles the kick inside the 10, and his return after gaining control is a single yard giving PSU 1st and 10 from its own 10—On 1st down, Jaxon Smolik is in at QB and he gives to Kaytron Allen for an 8-yard gain—2nd and 2 at the 18, Ethan Grunkemeyer is at QB with Nick Singleton at RB for the first time and Grunk tries scrambling up the middle for no gain—3rd and 2, Smolik is back at QB with Grunk sliding outside like a flanker, and Jaxon keeps left on the option for absolutely nothing—4th and 2 at the 18, Gabe Nwosu is in to the punt for the first time—Gabe’s punt is a 42-yarder to the Iowa 40 where Kaden Wetjen takes the ball and brings it back 25 yards to the PSU 35 where’s he’s helped out of bounds by Nwosu

• Iowa 3rd possession begins at the PSU 35 after the punt—It will not deliver the goods covering only 7 net yards on 4 plays and ending with a missed field goal—A false start penalty will back Iowa up to the 40—The 1st down pass is overthrown and Gronowski’s next 2 completions only get back 12 of the needed 15 yards—On 4th and 3 from the PSU 28, Drew Stevens is in for the 46-yard FG try—No good, wide right—Penn State’s lead holds at 7-3 with 29 seconds remaining in the 1st period

• PSU 3rd possession will stretch into the 2nd period but will be a 3-and-out netting negative -7 yards—Nick Singleton picks up 2 yards on his first rush of the night out to the 30 ending the quarter—Penn State leads Iowa 7-3 after the 1st quarter—Between periods, Iowa does its now traditional “wave to the kids” in the neighboring hospital building (debuted in 2017)—2nd quarter begins—Grunk’s 2nd down pass intended for Trebor Pena is incomplete—On 3rd and 8 at the 30, the Hawkeyes finally get to Grunkemeyer, sacking him for a 9-yard loss as he throws the ball away to no one, and that’s intentional grounding setting up 4th down back at the PSU 21—Nwosu’s punt is a 45-yarder which Wetjen fair catches at the Iowa 34

• Iowa 4th possession will be a 3-and-out netting 2 yards total—Freshman DE Yvan Kemajou throws Wetjen for a 3-yard loss on 1st down—Then a run and short pass pick up 5, and it’s Iowa punt time—Rhys Dakin gets his foot into the ball sending it 54 yards to Devonte Ross for the fair catch at the PSU 10

• PSU 4th possession will chew up just over 6 minutes and cover 52 yards on 12 plays before ending on a long interception which was probably a better deal than a punt—PSU picked up 4 first downs on the drive, all on pass plays—4 yards to Ross, 13 yards to Pena, 14 yards to Koby Howard for his first ever reception that moved the ball to the 50, and 7 yards on the shovel pass to Kaytron Allen to move the ball to the Iowa 36—On 1st down, Grunk goes deep and incomplete to Kyron Hudson and then loses 2 yards on a flair pass to Kaytron on the right—On 3rd down and 12 at the 38, Grunk goes long again down the left side and completely overthrows Devonte Ross, but Iowa’s Deshaun Lee gets his hands on the ball as he falls out of bounds inside his 5 yard line—The referee has a clear view and signals incomplete pass, out of bounds—But was it, INC or INT?—Video replay reveals that Lee taps his left toe inbounds with possession of the ball—It’s changed to an interception and Iowa’s ball at its own 4 which is kind of a bad break for the Hawkeyes in terms of field position—Note: Penn State has generally avoided 50+ yard Ryan Barker FG attempts in 2025, so Gabe Nwosu probably pooch punts from the 38 on 4th and long which could have resulted in something inside the 10, or more likely in a touchback, and Iowa ball at the 20—This makes the INT at the 4 a more than fair exchange for the Nittany Lions, in this case—Plus, a 55-yard FG miss by Barker (or Nwosu) gives the Hawks the ball at the 38—So, again, an oddly lucky INT for PSU

• Iowa 5th possession will cover only 35 yards over 8 plays from its 4 yard line, but the Hawkeyes will be rescued by their punter—Two Iowa runs pick up 5 yards and then Gronowski’s short pass turns into a 9-yard gain and a first down thanks to a missed tackle—A short pass and 4 straight runs move the Hawkeyes out to the 39 where they face 4th and 1—After the official 2-minute timeout, Rhys Dakin rockets a 61-yard punt into the Penn State endzone for the touchback—The Lions get the ball 1st and 10 at their 20—Iowa will not punt again in this game

• PSU 5th possession will be the old 3-and-out the “expensive way”—3 plays, 3 yards and a 2nd Grunk interception of the quarter on back-to-back possessions—Grunk can’t connect on the shovel pass to Singleton on 1st down—Nick then picks up 4 yards out to the 24—Iowa decides to save some clock for itself and calls timeout with 1:37 to go in the half—On 3rd and 6, Grunkemeyer’s pass to Luke Reynolds TE is in and out of his hands and finds Iowa’s Xavier Nwankpa at the 29—Nwankpa is thinking pick-6, and he returns the ball 28 yards to the 1 where Grunk makes the stop (this is PSU’s second tackle in this game by a QB or punter-not a good sign)—Iowa has the ball 1st and goal at the PSU 1 with 1:28 left in the half

• Iowa 6th possession will take 2 plays to get the final yard—Alonzo Ford makes the stop on Gronowski for no gain on 1st down and PSU calls a timeout hoping to save some clock for a quick drive in response—The touchdown comes on a “tush push” that apparently got Gronowski the 1 yard into the endzone for the score (replay has no hope of confirming or overturning a TD in a scrum)—With this TD, Mark Gronowski joins Kaytron Allen as the only two in FBS to have a rushing TD in each of their team’s games in 2025 to this point—The PAT kick by Stevens is good—Iowa leads for the first time 10-7 over Penn State with 1:14 left in the first half

• PSU 6th possession begins at its 25 after the touchback on the Iowa kickoff—And the possession fails to achieve the Lions’ goals of gaining ground and/or killing the clock—PSU moves 6 yards on 3 plays in 27 seconds and punts—Kaytron gets 1 yard followed by an Iowa timeout with 1:07 to go—Singleton then collects 5 yards and runs out of bounds setting up 3rd and medium at the 31—But, Grunk is pressured into an incomplete pass intended for Hudson, and PSU is forced to punt—Nwosu hits a 44-yarder to the Iowa 25 where Wetjen makes the fair catch—Iowa has 47 seconds to navigate maybe 40 yards into field goal range

• Iowa 7th possession will run out the clock moving only 27 yards on 5 plays; it will end with a much longer than hoped field goal try that will leave them second-guessing themselves at halftime—After picking up 4 yards on 2 runs, Iowa gets a break on a personal foul penalty against Dom DeLuca LB giving them a first down at their 44 (this was only penalty on PSU in this game that cost them additional yards)—Gronowski’s pass to Moulton picks up 8 to the PSU 48 and the Hawks stop the clock with 10 seconds left—Elliot Washington then breaks up the Iowa pass on 2nd down stopping the clock—On 3rd and 2 at the PSU 48, Iowa sends out Drew Stevens (who’s already missed from 46 in this game) to attempt a 66-yard field goal—Penn State calls timeout at 6 seconds to ice the kicker, but Stevens makes the kick anyway—The “test” kick falls about 10 yards short of the uprights, but is otherwise on target—Stevens now knows he has to kick the ball lower to drive it the necessary distance; and now the Nittany Lions know it, too—On the official try, the snap is good and so is the hold at the Iowa 44—But 300-pound Xavier Gilliam DT busts through and gets his hand on the ball at the line of scrimmage—The ball flies back over the heads of the holder and kicker and bounces nicely at the Iowa 35 yard line—Elliot Washington is all by himself at the 35 for the easy hip-high grab and go—Washington takes it to the endzone for touchdown that leaves the Hawkeye fans stunned (it’s the first FG Block Six by Penn State since 2016 vs. Ohio State)—Ryan Barker adds the PAT and Penn State unexpectedly leads Iowa at the half, 14-10—And the Nittany Lions get the ball to open the 3rd period

• First Half Stats: Ethan Grunkemeyer QB 7 of 15 for 45 yards, 0 TD, 2 INTs, 1 sack

• Kaytron Allen RB 10 carries for 30 yards, 1 TD (Kaytron will rush for 115 yards in the 2nd half)

• Zakee Wheatley S 8 tackles/7 solo, 1 INT