After entering the 2025 NCAA season as serious National Championship contenders, very few things have gone right for Penn State. Their record is underwater. Their head coach has been fired. And Drew Allar, once considered a potential first-round quarterback, saw his season come to an end with an ankle injury versus Northwestern.
And yet, while so much is going wrong in Happy Valley, starting quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer showed a bright spot in the sea of doldrums, celebrating his locker room for coming together against one of their toughest foes of 2025.
“Yeah, before we start, I just wanna talk a little bit about just our team. I mean, we just played the number two team in the country. Got a top-five offense, top-five defense, and Heisman contender at quarterback,” Grunkemeyer declared.
“So, just the questions about our buy-in as a team, I think right there, that just goes to show the commitment our team has. The guys in the locker room, that’s just a testament to those guys. We had two turnovers in our part of the field, and we still have the ball to go down and win the game. So just super proud of those guys in that locker room.
“And there isn’t anybody else that I wanna go to battle with. So I just wanna talk about that.”
Now granted, would Grunkemeyer, his teammates, and the rest of State College have preferred to see the Nittany Lions walk off the Hoosiers and add some excitement to an otherwise brutal season? Absolutely.
Penn State hasn’t had a good win in a minute and might not record one against a ranked team for the rest of the season. But the fact that the players remain committed to playing for each other, sticking together, and pursuing the victory bell’s ring is a small win in and of itself.
https://clutchpoints.com/ncaa-football/penn-state-ethan-grunkemeyer-delivers-strong-locker-room-statement-indiana-loss
