What We Learned at Penn State Practice Ahead of the Ohio State Game

Defensive end Zuriah Fisher and backup quarterback Jaxon Smolik, both of whom were hurt at Iowa, were present during Wednesday’s open portion of practice. Smolik took snaps toward the end of the media availability, throwing wide receiver screens. 

Smith has not publicly discussed Smolik’s availability for Saturday’s game. The Penn State coach has said that freshman quarterback Bekkem Kritza, who was declared out for all seven games so far this season, will be active Saturday.  

Fisher appeared to be full-go Wednesday, and Smith said he expects the sixth-year lineman to play vs. the Buckeyes. In addition, starting left guard Vega Ioane and defensive end Jaylen Harvey, both of whom missed the Iowa game, were at practice. 

Jim Knowles returns to Ohio State

Penn State’s defensive coordinator stood with his headset on and hands on his knees watching the defense participate in drills on Wednesday. He was locked in. It’s a big week for the former Buckeyes coordinator, to which Ohio State coach Ryan Day alluded. 

Knowles spent three years with Ohio State, helping the team to a national championship in 2024. He left the Buckeyes to return to his home state and sign the biggest contract for an assistant in college football. He has a huge stake in Saturday’s contest. 

Former Penn State coach James Franklin has said that the team spent a good amount of time picking Knowles’ brain about Ohio State over the offseason. Now, that all comes into play. 

“Yeah, he told us everything they're going to do — no, I’m just kidding,” Smith said with a chuckle. “It's just been business as usual. He gave us some insight as to how they think, but we're just going about our business, just preparing. And just in certain situations [asking], ‘What is coach Ryan Day thinking?’ Just insight like that.

“But for the most part we're just preparing for what we see on the film, because this is a new team. This is a new year for them. They have three new coordinators, and they have different ideas and different thoughts and different ways they're doing things from last year.”

How did Penn State's offense look?

During the bye week, Penn State’s offense practiced indoors, and away from cameras, during the open segment of practice. Smith said that the offense was conducting an install period. 

On Wednesday, the offense was visible again. Typically, with quarterback Drew Allar at the helm, the offense would work on handoffs, intermediate routes and downfield passing during the media availability session. 

However, with Ethan Grunkemeyer starting at quarterback, offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki had his unit running some different things. After practice, Smith discussed trying to get the passing game going downfield more.

“You can do it off play-action. You’ve to get your run game going so play-action can work,” Smith said. “.... There are some creative ways, and obviously you can get into your bag of tricks. But that's a tough way to live. You really want to be able to have three receivers in the game and run great pass concepts, and we have those in our game plan this week. We’ve just got to protect Ethan and then allow him to pitch and catch with our receivers.”

Penn State visits No. 1 Ohio State for a noon ET kickoff at Ohio Stadium. FOX has the broadcast.

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