Penn State looks for better kicking game as season begins
A lot of excitement usually accompanies a season-opening game at Beaver Stadium and Saturday will be no exception for Penn State as it introduces a new up-tempo, no-huddle offense.
A lot of excitement usually accompanies a season-opening game at Beaver Stadium and Saturday will be no exception for Penn State as it introduces a new up-tempo, no-huddle offense.
But there are concerns as well, not the least of which is a kicking game that has been one of the lower ranked in the nation the last two years.
For the first time since he took over as head coach in January 2014, James Franklin brought in two freshmen on scholarship to challenge for the specialist positions. Blake Gillikin already has won the punting job and will make his debut on Saturday against Kent State.
At kicker, Alex Barbir has been locked in a three-way competition with returnees Tyler Davis and Joey Julius. Davis, a junior, took over for Julius in the second half of last season and went 8 for 8 on field goals. Julius, a redshirt sophomore, started 2015 as No. 1 and connected on 10 of 12 attempts with one block. However, the kickoff coverage team has allowed three touchdowns over the last two years.
Special-teams coach Charles Huff said Thursday that the battle for the starting placekicking job is going down to the wire.
"We chart everything in practice," Huff said. "We've got percentages and numbers that would probably make your heads spin. Now the numbers are neck and neck. We have to meet and be able to say, who's great on field goals? Who's great on field goals from the left hash? From the right hash? On kickoffs? We'll review that whole deal. We'll put all the numbers together and get a game plan rolling."
Punting has been a rather weak spot for Penn State. In Franklin's first two years, the Nittany Lions ranked 106th and 102nd, respectively, in net punting among FBS schools. First-team punter Daniel Pasquariello averaged almost 40 yards per punt last year but would get off a boomer sometimes and a squibber at other times.
The presence of Gillikin, who made the all-state team in his native Georgia last year as a punter and kicker, has made the competition for the starting job among Pasquariello and Chris Gulla a lot stronger, Huff said.
"We said it was going to be a true competition," he said. "The other thing we talked about was the consistency. Blake was consistent in all three phases. All the other guys had some really good strong punts. But overall with distance, location and hang time, Blake over the course of camp proved to be the most consistent. It wasn't a landslide.
"We brought in guys to compete because now you force them to be consistent. I think with those two younger guys coming in, Blake really took the punter unit to a whole another level. Same thing with Barbir, he took it to a whole another level because now you say, 'If I want to play, I've got to compete.' That's what I think really happened this camp."
The competition also has been tight in the return game. Running backs Saquon Barkley and Miles Sanders have worked on returning kickoffs, although safety Nick Scott might get the first crack at it on Saturday. Among punt returners, Huff said there are quite a few options, with holdover DeAndre Thompkins as one of the primary ones.
@joejulesinq