Penn State will play No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday with a precarious situation at quarterback. Ethan Grunkemeyer will make his second career start 30 minutes from his hometown, backup Jaxon Smolik was hurt in Penn State’s last game and a true freshman could be QB2.

Yet interim coach Terry Smith wants the Nittany Lions to come out throwing against the nation’s top-ranked defense Saturday in Columbus.

“I do think we’ll be able to throw the ball a little bit better this week at Ohio State,” Smith said Monday. “You know, I’m demanding from [offensive coordinator Andy] Kotelnicki that we are
creative in the pass game in the sense that we don’t want to throw the ball so much horizontally. We want to throw it vertically.”

Penn State brings the nation’s 110th-ranked passing offense to Columbus, one that has concerns at quarterback. The Nittany Lions already are without former starter, and Ohio native, Drew Allar, who is out for the season after sustaining a broken ankle in the Nittany Lions’ Oct. 11 against Northwestern.

Smolik, a redshirt sophomore, sustained an upper-body injury the following week at Iowa, where he carried the ball four times for three years playing alongside Grunkemeyer. Smith had no update Monday regarding Smolik’s status for the game.

If Smolik can’t play, Penn State’s new backup would be Bekkem Kritza, a true freshman who has been hurt much of the season and listed as “out” on the team’s seven gameday availability reports. Smith said that Kritza (6-5, 200 pounds) will be available for the first time at Ohio State. Jack Lambert, a redshirt sophomore walk-on from North Carolina, was the team’s No. 3 quarterback at Iowa.

Penn State brings “IF” mentality to game at No. 1 Ohio State

What’s next for Penn State’s passing game?

The injury list isn’t preventing Smith from having high expectations of his passing game at Ohio State. Grunkemeyer will make his second career start very close to home. He played at Olentangy High in Lewis Center, Ohio, located about 30 minutes north of Ohio Stadium.

In his first start, Grunkemeyer went 15-for-28 for 93 yards and two intereptions against the Hawkeyes. Smith said that the next step Penn State’s passing game is finding positions for Grunkemeyer to succeed.

“We can’t ask him to go out there and throw the ball 45 times and be effective and win that way,” Smith said. “We’ve got to create the run game and have some pass plays off the run game. We have to be able to give him some throws that are one- or two-read types of throws and not overcomplicate it for him.”

However, Smith also said that he wants a more vertical passing game. Penn State averaged just 3.3 yards passing per attempt at Iowa and went 3-for-11 on passes of 5+ yards. Regarding his “demand” of Kotelnicki to grow the passing game, Smith said that has been received well.

“Maybe demanding is probably not the right word,” Smith said. “When I go to him I’m saying, ‘Hey, listen, this is what I’m thinking. ‘ He’s like, ‘Yeah, you know what? I was thinking the same thing.’ We’re on the same page. We’re thinking alike.

“You know, in a profession when you lose four games in a row, we’re all humble. We’re all trying to find the problem and find the solution.”

Watch the QB run game

Penn State ran a two-quarterback system at Iowa for the first time this season. If Smolik is able to play Saturday, Smith suggested that the Nittany Lions might continue that approach.

“We want to be multiple, we want to be creative, we want to find different ways to make teams prepare for us and get the ball to our guys in space,” Smith said. “So it’s still an option on the table.”

Ohio State’s defense already figured to be the toughest Penn State has faced this season. The Buckeyes lead the nation in total defense (allowing 216.9 yards per game), are third in pass defense (131.3 ypg) and rank eighth against the run (85.57 ypg).

Ohio State also ranks No. 1 nationally in scoring defense, having allowed just four touchdowns in seven games. Ohio State is the only FBS team allowing fewer than 10 points per game. The Buckeyes give up an average of 5.9 and have held three Big Ten opponents (Washington, Minnesota and Wisconsin) without a touchdown.

The Ohio State game was supposed to be a homecoming for Allar, who grew up in Medina, about two hours north of Columbus, and started at Ohio State in 2023. Allar was emotional and challenged himself after that game, which Ohio State won 20-12.

“We talk about everything as blessings and lessons in life,” Allar said through tears at Ohio Stadium. “Obviously we lost the game, but this is a lesson for us, and we have to learn from it, because I never want to feel like this again.”

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