Penn State notebook

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Ethan Grunkemeyer couldn’t have picked a more difficult venue to make the first start of his Penn State career than Kinnick Stadium.

Grunkemeyer withstood the sellout crowd and held his own against Iowa’s sturdy defense in the Nittany Lions’ 25-24 loss Saturday night.

“I thought Ethan played a pretty solid game,” interim Penn State coach Terry Smith said. “I thought he managed the line of scrimmage and the calls at the line of scrimmage. He handled the crowd, which was electric.

“We didn’t have any miscues with communication at the line of scrimmage. He did a terrific job with that.”

Grunkemeyer, a redshirt freshman, completed 15-of-28 passes for 93 yards. He threw two interceptions in the second quarter, one on a deep sideline pass that served as

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