Position Grades: Rutgers

Well, another regular season has come and gone. I don’t know about you, but I want to be able to hop in a time machine and go tell myself from three months ago how the 2025 season played out and see my past self’s reaction. Given what a rollercoaster this season ended up being, perhaps it was fitting how many ups and downs this game had, but how did it end up grading out?

Quarterback: A

Ethan Grunkemeyer has shown quite a bit of development in just six games as Penn State’s starting quarterback as he was once again consistent, completing 17 of his 21 attempts. He also displayed great poise leading a scoring drive with less than 30 seconds before halftime, getting PSU into field goal range for Ryan Barker to give them a 24-21 lead going into the locker room. He also was clutch in finding Andrew Rappleyea a couple of times in critical 4th down situations, one of which scored PSU’s first touchdown of the game, the other icing the game.

Running Back: A+

4Kaytron is now a thing after Allen put up a career best single-game rushing perfromance with 226 yards on 22 carries and a TD to become the program’s first-ever 4,o00-yard rusher. Nicholas Singleton also racked up 86 yards and a rushing TD to surpass Saquon Barkley as PSU’s all-time TD’s leader (54). Hard to ask for a better way to go out for a backfield duo that has been a quintessential part of the Nittany Lion offense the last few years.

Wide Receiver: C

Trebor Peña had four catches for 36 yards, including a critical screen pass for move the chains on fourth down. Devonte Ross also had a clutch reverse run to help set up a new set of downs when PSU was running out the clock late in the game, while Kyron Hudson made a cameo appearance to catch a 23-yard pass.

Tight End: A–

When they weren’t blocking, dudes like Rappleyea were busy coming up with clutch grabs on 4th down and long TD scampers. After spending a good chunk of the season shaking off rust after coming back from a serious injury, it’s been great to see him rounding into the tight end we anticipated he could become.

Offensive Line: A

Once again, you don’t have a productive day on the ground without the dudes up front setting the tone.

Defensive Line: D

As praise-worthy as I’ve been about the offense, I’m equally as scornful towards the defense. Giving up 533 yards of total offense to Rutgers doesn’t happen unless you’re failing to garner pressure and wrap up when trying to tackle someone. I lost count just how many times Rutgers running back Antwan Raymond was seemingly eaten up at the line of scrimmage, only to escape and bust off a decent gain.

Linebacker: D+

The plus is for Amare Campbell scooping up an absolute derp of a fumble from Athan and taking it back for a go-ahead TD (and only because Zuriah Fisher tried to pounce on the ball, but failed to secured it) that ultimately ended up being a game-winner.

Secondary: D-

Getting lit up for 338 yards and 3 TD’s through the air probably warrants an ‘F’ grade, but I’ll be a tad generous since Zion Tracy came up with the second-most clutch defensive play, which was stopping Athan on a 4th and 1 RPO keeper to give PSU the ball back, from which they would ultimately run out the clock.

Special Teams: A-

Barker ended his regular season 15-for-16 on field goal attempts (with his only ‘miss’ being a block) after nailing both his field goals yesterday, which turned out to be huge in a four-point win. Gabe Nwosu’s kickoffs all went for touchbacks, while Singleton had what should’ve been a big kickoff return to midfield negated by a holding penalty.

Coaching: C

On the one hand, the offensive gameplan at least was sound: Pound the rock with Kaytron (with a little dose of Nick) and utilize play-action passing out of that. On the other hand, I don’t know what the hell was going on with the defense, because it felt like deja vu from the UCLA game in letting a good-but-not-elite quarterback look like a video game QB against them. And don’t get me started on Andy Kotelnicki deciding to get cute with the two-point conversion play after going up by five in the third quarter, trying to run a screen pass to Drew Shelton, who dropped it. That being said, kudos to Terry Smith for learning his lesson from the Indiana game and making sure to not give Rutgers the ball back for one last drive and allowing his team to run the victory formation to close it out.