James Franklin named redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer as Penn State’s backup quarterback at his weekly post-practice media availability on Wednesday ahead of the team’s season opener against Nevada on Saturday.

James Franklin announced that Ethan Grunkemeyer will be the backup quarterback over Jaxon Smolik for week one.

“Why I say for week one is because it was close.”

— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) August 27, 2025

The 6’2″, 212-pound signal caller beat out redshirt sophomore Jaxon Smolik after a fierce battle for the QB2 spot throughout camp. He was recently named the team’s backup ahead of Penn State’s College Football Playoff game against SMU after Smolik went down with a long-term injury and Beau Pribula transferred to Missouri. Eight months later, he’s permanently backing up Drew Allar on a Penn State team with national championship aspirations.

Grunkemeyer notably ran drills with Allar during Wednesday’s 15-minute media practice window. Franklin confirmed the quarterback depth move at his post-practice media availability.

“Grunk did some phenomenal things last year, very excited about him. Got an extremely strong arm,” Franklin said after the Blue-White game in April.

Grunkmeyer was a four-star recruit in the class of 2024, per 247Sports composite rankings, as was the No. 7 quarterback in the class behind names like DJ Lagway from Florida and Dylan Raiola from Nebraska.

Since getting on campus, the Lewis Center, Ohio, native has been working with the same quarterback coach as Drew Allar, Brad Maendler, who runs QB Excelerate.

Grunkmeyer’s only appearance for the Nittany Lions came in the first round of the College Football Playoffs against SMU after Penn State took a commanding lead. The signal caller threw two pass attempts. The first one was intercepted, and the second was for a nine-yard gain.

“I think he handled the moment fine. He was prepared all week to go into the game,” offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki said following the game. “I think any time that you’re the backup quarterback or the third-string quarterback, you need to prepare like you’re the starter, and he does that.”

With Penn State starting the season off against three less proven teams, the 6’2″ quarterback may see game time as soon as Saturday against Mountain West side Nevada.