Ethan Grunkemeyer.

Going into the season, that name didn’t hold any significant value for Penn State other than “Drew Allar’s backup”. Penn State football was ranked No. 2 in the preseason AP Poll. Who cared about Grunkemeyer? He’d never check into a game other than garbage time reps with the Nittany Lions up 50. Not with Allar playing at a Heisman level and Penn State primed for another deep College Football Playoff push.

Fast forward to October 11. Allar goes down against Northwestern, and James Franklin is fired as Penn State fans watch one of the worst two-week stretches in program history manifest itself in real time. An unfathomable nightmare all of a sudden put redshirt freshman Grunkemeyer under center as Penn State’s QB1.

Six games, 1,079 yards, six touchdowns, and 83 completions later, Penn State fans can confidently say Grunkemeyer is a key reason the Nittany Lions somehow clinched bowl eligibility in a 40-36 win over Rutgers after an all-but-lost season.

“His confidence is key. The way he carries himself, the way he goes about his business, that’s lingering into the rest of our offense,” offensive lineman Drew Shelton said postgame.

Grunkemeyer has steadily improved every single week he’s had the starting job. His completion percentage blossomed against Nebraska at 91.7% as he went 11-for-12 on passing. In Penn State’s season finale barnburner against Rutgers, he completed 17-for-21 passes, good for 81%, and tossed a touchdown.

Grunkemeyer hasn’t thrown an interception since the Indiana game, and he’s revitalized Penn State’s deep passing attack that was nonexistent early in the season.

“He was thrown into the fire. Learning with experience, learning with every day that goes along. We put a lot of pressure on him as a young quarterback to lead us, and we’ve been trying to give him the ropes. Not trying to take too much away from him, but still help him out at the same time,” Shelton said. “Each week, he’s just taking more and more of that role. Took it on the chin, and he’s growing. It’s really cool to see blocking for him, that kind of fire coming out of him. It’s really cool to see his development in that sense.”

Penn State’s explosive play tendency has increased exponentially, and it’s all rooted in Grunkemeyer’s consistency and caution with the ball. He doesn’t cause turnovers and he manages the game exactly as it needs to be. Terry Smith knew Grunkemeyer had the potential to be great for the Nittany Lions the second he took over as interim head coach, but knew the young signal caller needed some time to gel with the offense.

“He’s the future of the position for us. He’s taken great strides getting better. He’s worked his tail off every week. You see his production,” Smith said postgame. “He’s very efficient in his throws. He runs our offense, and that’s what a great quarterback does. You look at Super Bowl champions or championship-caliber quarterbacks, they do what’s necessary for victory. And that’s what he’s done for us.”

It seems that Grunkemeyer’s playing his best ball just as the season winds down for Penn State. Three consecutive wins did get the Nittany Lions a spot in a bowl game, but they won’t play for another few weeks at the least. Grunkemeyer is still confident he won’t lose his spark, crediting Penn State’s defense for keeping him game-ready every day at practice.

While Penn State’s bowl designation looms, a more immediate issue is the hiring of the program’s next head coach. The announcement could come any day now that the regular season has wrapped up, and Grunkemeyer knows he’s going to need some clarity once it happens. Smith said Grunkemeyer is Penn State’s future at quarterback, but how much weight does that hold if Penn State goes with an outside hire?

“I just really want to sit down with him [new coach], see what the plan is. Talk to him about my future, what he sees in me, and see me doing, and then seeing what he does as a coach to help develop that way. I feel that’s just really the biggest thing, is just sitting down with him,” Grunkemeyer said.

In a time with so much uncertainty surrounding the quarterback position and the program as a whole, Grunkemeyer has certainly stated his case to be the starter going forward. He trusts Penn State will hire someone fit for the job, but whatever happens from now on is out of Grunkemeyer’s control, and all he wants to focus on is Penn State’s bowl game and one final ride with his teammates, and as the lead.

“My parents get to watch me play another game as the Penn State starting quarterback. That’s really what I do it for, and I’m excited for the opportunity,” Grunkemeyer said.

He said one of the main reasons Penn State reeled it in to end the season on a high note was the team’s togetherness. Even outside of Smith’s obvious impact on the squad’s effort and focus on emotional concentration, Penn State knew it had to remain as a team and limit talk of future decisions in the locker room. They had to focus on the present, and Grunkemeyer’s lead in that created positivity out of a disaster.

“We expected him to go out and be great. He’s been showing flashes of things that you see in games in practice, and for him to do it on a consistent level, I guess maybe was the expectation, and he’s been able to do so,” offensive lineman Nick Dawkins said. “He’s a great manager, clock management as well, and everything he’s done for us. We just have a lot of pride he opens up our offense.”