Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1537537
A U G U S T 2 0 2 5 3 7 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / Q U A R T E R B A C K S / / / / / / / athletes regroup after disappointing re- sults, he does note that resilience is a necessary trait. "I don't want to sit here and say, 'Oh yeah, he's super motivated now. He'll never, ever let that happen again,'" Ko- telnicki said. "Hopefully he plays foot- ball for a long time. Something is going to happen again to him. And the reality is, in these moments as a football team, how do we want to respond? How does he want to respond to that? "The best way is to take ownership and evaluate what you want the big pic- ture to be. He wants to come back and win, compete at a high level, and go play pro football. So, what do we have to do to get it done?" By setting a plan and following through on it, Allar intends to answer that question definitively in 2025. ■ 2024 vs. 2025: Stock Up Or Down? With two seasons as a starter under his belt, including one year in coordinator Andy Kotelnicki's offensive system, Drew Allar has gained a wealth of experience and appears poised to take another step forward as a senior this fall. James Franklin said following Allar's decision to return for the 2025 season that he didn't think the veteran quarterback had reached his ceiling as a college player. "There's a lot of excitement because … we believe there's still a lot of room for growth and development," Franklin said. Allar's success will depend to a large extent on the performance of an overhauled wide receiver corps. The Lions added a trio of wideouts in the transfer portal in seniors Kyron Hudson, Devonte Ross and Trebor Peña, and all three are likely to start this fall. If they can elevate a position group that has underproduced in recent years, Allar will be a big beneficiary. The team's backup situation is more unsettled than it was a year ago when Beau Pribula was firmly established as QB2. Pribula headed to Missouri rather than spending a third season backing up Allar. With virtually no game experience behind Allar going into the 2025 season, the Lions' championship hopes are contingent on him staying healthy. Assuming he does, the stock here is trending up. X-Factor Is one of Penn State's two backup quarterbacks prepared to take the reins this fall if anything were to happen to Allar? Neither redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer nor redshirt sophomore Jaxon Smolik has compiled much of a statistical resume to date. So far, the two quarterbacks have played in two games between them, completing 1 of 2 passes for 9 yards and an interception. Smolik missed the entire 2024 season with an injury, and Grunkemeyer would almost certainly have sat out the entire year as well, but he received a field promotion just before the start of the College Football Playoff, becoming Allar's backup after Pribula entered the portal. The two quarterbacks were neck-and-neck in spring practice, meaning that this position battle will resume when preseason camp opens in the coming weeks. Whoever wins it will need to be ready to step in at a moment's notice, just as Pribula was last October at Wisconsin when he replaced an injured Allar and completed 11 of 13 passes for 98 yards and a touchdown in a 28- 13 victory. Freshman Outlook Grunkemeyer could end up being the backup, so there's a possibility that a redshirt freshman will make a significant contribution this fall. The nonconference schedule features three opponents that PSU will be favored to beat handily. If all goes as expected against Nevada, Florida International and Villanova, the backup QB will get plenty of game reps ahead of the Big Ten opener Sept. 27 against Oregon. Penn State also has a true freshman quarterback in Bekkem Kritza. A three-star prospect in the 2025 class, Kritza took a roundabout path to PSU, playing for four different high school teams, including two teams his senior year alone. He's considered a developmental prospect, meaning that it would take a run of extraordinarily bad luck on the injury front for him to see action this fall. Ethan Grunkemeyer battled for the Nittany Lions' backup quarterback spot in spring practice. His competition with Jaxon Smolik will continue into preseason camp. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS Quick Facts Position coach: Danny O'Brien (second season) Returning starter: Drew Allar (29 career starts) Departing starter: None Top reserves: Ethan Grunkemeyer, Jaxon Smolik Newcomer: Bekkem Kritza Scholarship Players (4) No. Player Yr. Ht. Wt. 15 Drew Allar Sr. 6-5 235 17 Ethan Grunkemeyer R-Fr. 6-2 212 16 Bekkem Kritza Fr. 6-5 200 14 Jaxon Smolik R-So. 6-1 213