Penn State football lead 14-10 heading into halftime over Michigan State. Interim head coach Terry Smith commented on the aggressive approach the Nittany Lions (3-6, 0-6 Big Ten) took and gave a short assessment of quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer.
Penn State is one-of-seven on third down and two-of-four on fourth down. Punter Gabe Nwosu, who was hurt momentarily in the first quarter, punted twice so far on Saturday. Despite the low conversion numbers on late downs, the Nittany Lions lead the Spartans (3-6, 0-6 Big Ten) eight to four on first downs.
"Yeah, we came to win the game," Smith said before heading into the locker room on the CBS broadcast. "We just got to make some corrections. We got to straighten up front. We should be better than them up front, but we're not proving that right now, but we're going to stay aggressive in this game."
The aggressive approach to continue trying on fourth downs hasn't tipped in Penn State's favor for the most part.
After defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton blocked a Michigan State punt, the Nittany Lions took the field at the Spartans' 41-yard-line. Quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer and his offense couldn't get out of their own way as they eventually faced a fourth-and-two situation at the 22-yard-line.
Grunkemeyer escaped the initial pressure from Michigan State's defense, but couldn't get the ball into the hands of a receiver in time. Getting chased towards the sideline, the Spartans took the redshirt freshman down and reclaimed possession of the ball. Michigan State took over at its own 28-yard-line and faced a tough defense that forced a punt with less than one minute remaining.
"He's just playing so-so," Smith said of Grunkemeyer's first half performance. "We got to get him to make more better decisions, even on the fourth down, you got to throw it up and give us a chance."
Grunkemeyer is seven-of-11 on pass attempts for 123 yards. He threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Devonte Ross as well. Rushing, the quarterback is averaging -5.3 yards per carry.
After a stronger performance against No. 2 Indiana in Week 11, Grunkemeyer is making things more complicated than need be on Saturday. Whether it's overthinking or stressing over the Spartans doing a good job clogging up the run game in short-yard situations, Grunkemeyer looks more unsure of what to do and where to put the ball.