Penn State’s first three games against Nevada (August 30), Florida International (September 6), and Villanova (September 13) may not be against Power 4 competition, but the ramifications of settling the second and third strings will be determined..
While the top of the depth chart, for the most part, is ironed out everywhere except for the right side of the offensive line, one of the bigger summer battles has been who will be the backup for Drew Allar this season?
A few weeks ago, Penn State head coach James Franklin said during Penn State Media Day that the battle between redshirt sophomore Jaxon Smolik and redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer was one that was too close to call.
Franklin suggested there was no time table to name Allar’s backup and he was going to give it time to settle it out.
Apparently, the time has come to name Penn State’s backup quarterback.
On Tuesday, during media availability, Franklin seemed confident there would be a decision coming soon.
“We’re close to making a decision,” Franklin said. “We haven’t sat down and talked to those guys yet. You know, probably a week ago, we were close to making a decision and then held off because we had a couple inconsistent practices, but we’re close to making that decision again.”
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Franklin said that they have started to adjust reps for the potential backup quarterback, but indicated they haven’t adjusted to a point where the decision’s been made.
The experience is limited between Smolik and Grunkemeyer.
Smolik’s lone appearance came against Delaware in 2023, while Grunkemeyer completed a single pass (9 yards) on two attempts with his second pass an interception that occurred in the College Football Playoff First Round against SMU.
