Veterans face decisions about whether to play in bowl game

By Greg Pickel

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Penn State is going to the postseason after beating Rutgers, 40-36, on Saturday at SHI Stadium.

The Nittany Lions honored 30-plus players during Senior Day a week earlier and also have a number of other veterans with stay-or-go decisions to make. Thus, it stands to reason that many starters, and even perhaps some top backups, will elect not to play in the team’s bowl game, wherever and whenever it may be.

But those with choices to make were not ready to do so on Saturday in the moments after earning a 13th game.

“Not right now,” senior running back Nicholas Singleton said when asked about his postseason future. “I want to talk to my parents about that. Just to get another bowl game for my teammates and coaches means a lot.

“It meant a lot to this team. It shows the adversity we’ve been through. We never stopped fighting. Coach Terry [Smith] has been a big part of that. He’s been saying that the whole time.”

Offensive linemenn Nick Dawkins and Olaivavega Ioane echoed Singleton’s uncertainty about what lies ahead.”

“We just got done playing this game,” Dawkins said. “We don’t know, man, I haven’t seen my mom yet.”

Added Ioane: “We don’t know yet. We’ve got to see what happens. Just got to figure it out.”

One Penn State player who will definitely be playing is redshirt freshman quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer. He has been remarkably accurate since taking over as the team’s starter and has guided it to a 3-3 mark.

“Excited,” he said. “My parents get to watch me play another game as the Penn State starting quarterback, so that’s really what I do it for, and I’m just excited for the opportunity.”

More: Everything Penn State coach Terry Smith said after the Lions’ win over Rutgers

Penn State will now take a week off as it preps for Selection Sunday. Entering Saturday, the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 27 in New York looked like the likely destination. But, time will tell, both about the game the Lions play in and also who plays in it.

“We’ll give these guys a week off, and I think next Sunday is Selection Sunday, we’ll figure out who we’re going to play, and then we just start game planning from there,” Smith said. “We’ll take care of our veteran guys and get our young guys a lot of work and get them ready to go.”