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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The past month has accelerated Ethan Grunkemeyer's timetable with the Penn State football program.
The true freshman from Ohio was promoted to backup quarterback after Beau Pribula entered the transfer portal and has since committed to Missouri.
That allowed Grunkemeyer to see late-game action in the Nittany Lions' Dec. 21 playoff against SMU.
James Franklin felt Grunkemeyer handled himself well.
"Super talented young man that we have a lot of confidence in," Franklin said Sunday morning. "We tried to get him in that game as early as possible, because we knew it would be important moving forward. We'll have some packages for him in this game as well, because I think it's important that we get him in. He's taken some tremendous strides."
Allar has announced his return to the Lions in 2025, and Grunkemeyer will be the projected backup.
"Obviously, under the circumstances, his journey has changed," Franklin said. "He's embraced that journey, and I know our team has a ton of confidence in him."
Grunk completed 1-of-2 vs. SMU with the incompletion, on his first attempt, a high but catchable pass to Trey Wallace.
"I've gone back and watched that a few times," Grunkemeyer said. "I made it tougher for our receiver."
Grunk, though, called the experience "surreal," and said Franklin's confidence in him has built "more confidence in myself."
Grunk is mentored by the same quarterback guru, Brad Maendler, who has tutored Allar.
"I've known Drew for a while and trained with him," Grunk said, adding because of that, "I felt super confident coming to Penn State."
Respect card
Like Penn State, Boise State arrived on Saturday.
The Broncos are 10.5-point favorites and wore T-shirts that said, "Please Count Us Out."
Franklin isn't biting.
"I know they got off the planes with some, maybe kind of an underdog mentality, or not getting respect," he said. "I can guarantee you they have our respect. We take a lot of pride in that as a program we respect everybody that we play, but it's not hard to create that when you watch them on tape."
Boise's only loss came in the second game of the season, 37-34 at Oregon - a game in which the Ducks trailed a lot of the way and needed two touchdowns from their special teams (punt and kickoff) to win.
Long season
Tuesday will mark Penn State's 15th game, the most in school history.
With a win, the Lions (12-2) would be in line to play in the College Football Playoff semifinals vs. the winner of Georgia-Notre Dame, which meet in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night.
"I think staying on top of just recovery stuff, any little thing you can is a big help," tight end Tyler Warren said. "It takes a toll, but you're kind of just in the groove of it and the routine of the season. You're used to waking up and feeling how you feel, however that is. But doing whatever you can during the day, getting in the tub, stuff like that, little things to give you an edge, but also understanding that everybody is in the same situation as you. So it's not really an excuse to have. It's just something you've got to deal with in this sport."
Wishing Beau well
Allar said he texted Pribula right around the time the York product signed on with Missouri.
"I wished him well," Allar said. "He's doing to do a great job and earn everybody's respect down there just like he did here."
Notable ...
– Former PSU special teams coach Stacy Collins serves in that same capacity at Boise State. Collins, an Oregon native, spent 2022-23 on Franklin's staff.
– Matt Millen, who was the MVP of the 1977 Fiesta Bowl, is on site for the Big Ten Network. Millen said he believes both PSU running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen are "NFL ready," in part because of their understanding of pass protection. Neither has declared intentions for 2025.
– During his media availability Sunday morning, Franklin again made a pitch for college football to hire a commissioner. He suggested former Alabama coach and current ESPN analyst Nick Saban, calling him "the obvious choice." Franklin made two recommendations: Eliminating the conference championship games and unifying the number of conference games each conference plays (right now the Big Ten plays nine and the SEC eight) to help better align the current calendar.