Jaxon James Smolik (born 2004) is an American college football quarterback for the Temple Owls. He previously played for the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Early life and education Smolik was born in West Des Moines, Iowa, where he attended Dowling Catholic High School. As a sophomore, he completed 57 of 96 passes for 794 yards and six touchdowns. As a junior, he completed about 65% of his passes for 959 yards and nine touchdowns. As a senior, he completed 64% of his passes for 1,967 yards and 19 touchdowns, leading Dowling Catholic to a 10-2 record and a state-semifinal appearance.
He earned 5A all-state honors as a senior, was selected all-conference and also received Academic All-State recognition.
In addition to football, he played baseball at Dowling Catholic, serving as a first-baseman and pitcher.
Smolik was rated a consensus three-star prospect out of high school. On August 12, 2022, he committed to play college football for Penn State.
College career Penn State Smolik enrolled at Penn State and redshirted his true-freshman year in 2023; he appeared in one game during that season. During the 2024 season, Smolik was sidelined with an injury and did not appear in games, entering the season as a redshirt freshman. During the 2025 season, he saw his first extended action against Iowa on October 18, taking 11 snaps and recording four rushes for three yards before leaving the game in the fourth quarter after a hit.
On January 2, 2026, Smolik announced that he would enter the transfer portal.
Temple On January 10, 2026, Smolik announced that he would transfer to Temple. Statistics Season Team Games Passing Rushing 2023 Penn State 1 0 — 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 2024 Penn State 0 0 — 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 2025 Penn State 3 0 — 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 4 3 0.8 0 2026 Temple 3 3 1−2 14 23 60.9 116 5.0 1 1 108.6 12 69 5.8 0 Career 7 3 1−2 14 23 60.9 116 5.0 1 1 180.6 16 72 4.5 0
Personal life Smolik is the son of Mark and Jaime Smolik. His father played college football at South Dakota and his brother Cameron played at Dordt University.
References
External links Penn State Nittany Lions bio Temple Owls bio ESPN profile 247Sports profile Rivals profile On3 profile