Penn State football fans don't know what to do as the Terry Smith era starts off with a loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Mark Gronowski (11) waltzes into the end zone for a touchdown during a game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Penn State Nittany Lions at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa on Saturday, October 18, 2025. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

The Penn State football program has faced plenty of adversity throughout the first two months of the 2025 college football season. The Nittany Lions were ranked No. 2 in the country in the preseason AP Top 25 poll,

Penn State football quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer will get his first college start at Iowa, in place of injured Drew Allar.

After initially being on the outside looking in to Penn State's coaching drama, the Iowa Hawkeyes stepped knee deep into the chaos by hosting the Nittany Lions

Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski rushed for a career-high 130 yards and two touchdowns, and Kaden Wetjen scored the go-ahead touchdown on an 8-yard run with 3:54 to play, as the Hawkeyes defeated Penn State 25-24 on Saturday night.

Urban Meyer and Tom Rinaldi broke down the top options to be the next Head Coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Interim coach Terry Smith, who played for Joe Paterno from 1987-1991 and was hired by Franklin when he became Penn State’s head coach in 2014, is the man tabbed with pulling the Nittany Lions out of their funk. The Associated Press contributed to this report.