Penn State football interim head coach Terry Smith didn't have a success story to share after his first game leading the Nittany Lions (3-4, 0-4 Big Ten). Iowa defeated them by one point, 25-24, and they left Kinnick Stadium with their fourth consecutive loss of the 2025 season. Even though the determination didn't end up with a win for Penn State, Smith is doing everything but giving up hope for his team.
A coaching change has fixed nearly every team in college football, except Penn State
"They don't have a choice if they're going to play for me. Quit isn't in my vocabulary," Smith said on Tuesday. "We all have a job to do and everyone's got to play until the end. You've got to give your soul. Things aren't going our way right now, but the only way to get out of the storm is to run through the storm — and we're going to run through the storm until we get out of the storm. And we'll come out, and the sun will shine on us, and we'll all be better for it."
I asked Terry Smith if Penn State wants to fight to the end of the season:
— Allie Berube (@allieberube) October 22, 2025
“The only way to get out the storm is to run through the storm & we're going to run through the storm until we get out the storm. We'll come out & the sun will shine on us & we'll all be better for it.” pic.twitter.com/qWPezIau2K
The Nittany Lions have their second bye week before taking on No. 1 Ohio State on the road in Week 10. Before the season took a tumultuous turn, the three-game stretch starting with Iowa and ending with Indiana was considered Penn State's biggest challenge for 2025.
It's a tough trio of games for Smith to come into suddenly after the firing of former head coach James Franklin, but that pressure doesn't seem to be shaking him regardless of how the battle against the Hawkeyes went.
While Franklin lost the locker room game-by-game, Smith is glueing it back together. Even after another loss, there's a level of fight the Nittany Lions have that wasn't there even during the non-conference slate in the first three weeks. Smith might not be the next best thing for Penn State moving forward in the future, but he's not the worst leader to put in Franklin's place to try and put the team back together.
After the team and Franklin parted ways, Smith was focused on getting the players back into the mindset of playing football. On top of the coaching drama, backup quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer had to quickly take on the starting role after Drew Allar broke his ankle against Northwestern. Smith was concerned with getting the players ready no matter what was going on around the team.
It's clear that no matter what's thrown at the Nittany Lions, Smith will handle it and make sure they come out better than before, even if he isn't the guy that can turn the blue and white back into a winning team.