A Penn State season that started with national championship hopes and a No. 2 ranking ended with a bowl win at Yankee Stadium to avoid the program’s first losing record in a full campaign since 2004.
The Nittany Lions beat Clemson 22-10 in the Pinstripe Bowl on Saturday, finishing Terry Smith’s time as Penn State’s interim head coach with a four-game winning streak.
“I love this group. This is the greatest moment in my life,” Smith said in a postgame interview with ESPN. “I’m just so happy for our guys. I love Penn State. I love football. And the game and Penn State have done amazing things for me and my family. And I’m just thankful and grateful.”
The Pinstripe Bowl featured two of the most disappointing teams in the country. Both the Tigers (7-6) and Nittany Lions (7-6) were coming off College Football Playoff appearances in 2024 and were ranked in the top five in the preseason. Instead of playing for a national title, Penn State and Clemson were matched in a pre-New Year’s bowl in the Bronx, the day after about 4 inches of snow fell on New York City.
For Penn State, three straight losses to start Big Ten play changed everything.
Smith took over six games into the season after the surprising firing of James Franklin, who had led Penn State for 12 years. Penn State also lost quarterback Drew Allar to a season-ending injury in a loss to Northwestern that dropped the Nittany Lions to 3-3 on Oct. 11. Franklin was dismissed the next day with a 104-45 record at Penn State.
Grunk → Rapp, wide open for the TD!#WeAre | @PinstripeBowl on ABC pic.twitter.com/DlJAVvANhl
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) December 27, 2025
Nearly two months after Franklin was let go by athletic director Pat Kraft, Penn State hired Matt Campbell away from Iowa State to fill the vacancy. Franklin landed at Virginia Tech as head coach.
Smith will remain on staff, a key retention for Campbell.
Penn State lost its first three games under Smith, a longtime assistant coach under Franklin and former Penn State player, with Ethan Grunkemeyer taking over at quarterback. Those losses included a one-point loss at Iowa and a three-point loss at home to Indiana.
A three-game winning streak to finish the season made the Nittany Lions bowl eligible for the 20th time in the last 21 seasons. The only exception was the 2020 pandemic-interrupted season, when Penn State played only nine games.
Penn State’s last losing season before that came in 2004 when the Nittany Lions went 4-7, their fourth losing season over a five-year run under Joe Paterno.
With most of its best offensive linemen and both star running backs (Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen) not playing on Saturday, Penn State leaned on Grunkemeyer and freshman running back Quinton Martin (101 yards rushing) to generate what little offense it could.
Grunkemeyer went 22 of 34 for 262 yards and two touchdowns, including a 73-yard pass to Trebor Pena in the fourth quarter that put Penn State up 15-3. Grunkemeyer’s second TD pass was an 11-yarder to Andrew Rappleyea that made it 22-10 with 4:56 left in the fourth quarter.
Defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton, one of the Penn State stars who did play, had two sacks. The junior could return for another college season but might declare for the NFL Draft.
Campbell era begins
With Campbell taking over, and Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht expected to hit the transfer portal when it opens in early January, Grunkemeyer’s future at Penn State is also very much up in the air. The former four-star recruit has three years of eligibility left.
The Ohio native will head into the offseason coming off one of his best performances of the season in the Pinstripe Bowl.
The big question now is just how many Iowa State players will follow Campbell to Happy Valley. In addition to Becht, Cyclones star tight end Benjamin Brahmer is also expected to transfer. Iowa State starting cornerback Jontez Williams also intends to jump into the portal.
The Cyclones went 8-4 this season, winning their final three games. Campbell was 72-55 in 10 seasons in Ames, Iowa. — Russo
Clemson’s nightmare is over
The only team that was as big a disappointment as Penn State? Its opponent today. Clemson opened the season ranked No. 4 and was a trendy pick to compete for Dabo Swinney’s third national championship. However, it didn’t happen. The Tigers were out of the College Football Playoff race by September, and their six losses are the most for the program since 2010, Swinney’s first full year as the head coach.
So what exactly went wrong? Well, a little bit of everything. Quarterback Cade Klubnik, a potential Heisman favorite to open the season, regressed and didn’t live up to the hype. A defensive line that was expected to be loaded behind former top 60 recruits Peter Woods and T.J. Parker looked underwhelming, and the secondary had problems stopping opposing passing attacks all season.
The stars didn’t do their part, and Clemson paid the consequences early. After struggling in a win against Troy in Week 2, it only got worse for the Tigers, who lost to both Georgia Tech and Syracuse in consecutive weeks. Clemson had just one Power 4 win at home all season, against Florida State, and despite winning four of its last five games, didn’t come close to meeting expectations. — Raynor
So what’s next for the Tigers?
Well, Clemson will enter the offseason with a whole lot of questions. What the 2026 Tigers might look like will depend in large part on their personnel — both on the field with players and on the sidelines with coaches.
First up, Swinney will have to make a decision about offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, who came to the Tigers by way of TCU in 2023 as college football’s up-and-coming guru but oversaw a unit that took a step back in 2025. Clemson finished with 24 points or fewer on seven occasions this season and went from having a top-15 offense in 2024 to just a top-50 unit in 2025.
Perhaps just as pressing, Clemson has to figure out who its quarterback will be in 2026.
Christopher Vizzina, the backup, played in just five games this season and threw for 406 yards with four touchdowns and an interception. Saturday’s game might have given Clemson a chance to see him in action again, but with Klubnik earning the right to close out his Clemson career with one last game, there’s a sense of uncertainty at the position heading into 2026.
The Tigers can roll with Vizzina, a former top 75 recruit in the Class of 2023, or go to the portal and pay top dollar for a proven starter. The Tigers should have some cash freed up with Klubnik’s departure, as well as several defensive players, but as we know, Swinney has been reluctant to embrace the portal. The wild-card option would be Chris Denson, a former three-star who flashed in limited playing time this year.
Lastly, the Tigers will have to figure out how to beef up their defense under Tom Allen, who had plenty of talent this season but couldn’t put the pieces together. Swinney may have coaching decisions to make in the secondary, as well. — Raynor
