UNIVERSITY PARK — The most intriguing competition on Penn State’s roster this fall is the battle for the No. 2 quarterback.

And that’s for two reasons: The Nittany Lions are set at practically every position – evidenced by their Top 5 preseason ranking – and the decision will give the player selected the upper hand for the starter’s job going into 2026 when Drew Allar is gone.

Enter Ethan Grunkemeyer and Jaxon Smolik, and flip a coin on who is 2A and 2B.

“This thing is, I think, going to go right down to the wire,” James Franklin said. “Depending, if it finishes up like it did in the spring, it could continue throughout the entire year.”

Franklin added, “whoever has the best week that week is going to be the backup quarterback … just based on how close it was this spring.”

If Grunkemeyer has a slight edge because he has attempted a pass in a game – he was 1-of-2 for 9 yards late in the first-round playoff vs. SMU that included a deflected interception – while Smolik has not, also consider Smolik has been in the program one year longer.

Smolik enters his third season, Grunk his second.

The timetable for both was accelerated last year when Beau Pribula hopped into the transfer portal as the Lions were preparing for SMU.

Because Smolik was recovering from an injury that cost him the entire 2024 season, Grunkemeyer got the second-team practice repetitions during the three-game CFP run.

“Getting game reps under my felt was super helpful,” Grunkemeyer, who (like Allar) is a product of Ohio, said.

Smolik, an Iowa native, used his lower-body injury to grow in other ways.

“I feel stronger and faster than I did before,” he said.

Franklin: “I thought Jaxon would be rusty coming back, but he wasn’t. He had a great spring.”

Grunk and Smolik are good friends who are both focusing only on their next practice.

“We have a lot of talented guys in our quarterback room, and the competition has helped everybody’s game,” Grunkemeyer said. “Me and Jaxon sit together all the time and help each other in any way if there’s something we see.”

“Ethan is a great guy, and I love competing with him,” Smolik said. “We have a great relationship.”

Quarterbacks coach Danny O’Brien doesn’t see much separation between the two.

“They have a lot of shared strengths,” he said. “One thing they have in common is they’re both elite preparers and high-IQ guys. Grunk sees windows very quickly, and Jaxon has that midwestern grit. There’s more overlap than differences.”

Though Pribula left – he’s now competing for the starting job at Missouri – the imprint he made on 2024 carries over.

“Just show understanding of the offense and show you can go in there and win a game if needed,” Grunk said. “We saw it last year with Beau at Wisconsin (when Allar was injured). He stepped up huge. Take that and learn from that.”

“We’re not in the playoffs if we don’t win that game,” O’Brien said. “They know Beau so they have that shared experience of how he handled it. They’ve been great with running their own race and taking it a day at a time.”

The message has been heard.

“What I’m building for is today’s practice,” Grunk said. “I can’t really worry about next year. If you look too far ahead, you’re going to look past today.”

“I’m just trying to control the things I can control,” Smolik said.

With the Lions poised to challenge for a Big Ten title and a possible national championship run, they know having the backup ready to play on the road in a hostile environment is paramount.

“It will be a really important competition … critical to our season,” Franklin said.

The backup is always one snap away, and consider the Nittany Lions visit Iowa on Oct. 18.

The last time they were in Iowa (2021), starter Sean Clifford was injured and – in one of the more embarrassing sequences in recent Penn State history – a series of false-start penalties occurred as the line of scrimmage operation crumbled under backup QB Ta’Quan Roberson and offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich.

“Our energy as quarterbacks when we’re not the starter – and I’ve been that – is getting better than myself the previous day,” O’Brien said. “You just continue to grind. You have so little control at our position. It’s snap your finger, and it’s too late to get ready for that moment. You have to be ready for that moment.”

Of the two, Smolik looked sharper in the Blue-White game, and the Lions will have three more Blue-White games – vs. Nevada, Florida International and Villanova – before the season starts against Oregon on Sept. 27.

It wouldn’t surprise if both backups see some snaps in those windows as Penn State – unlike most other programs, even the best ones — continues to develop quarterbacks from within, instead of shopping the portal for the game’s most important position.

And that’s another reason there’s no reason to declare the backup job any earlier than necessary. The one not selected might be more prone to leave.

Franklin is in no rush.

“If it’s close all season,” he said, “it could go into next year in terms of how this thing plays out.”

Call it the subplot to the 2025 season.