2 0 1 8 S E A S O N P R E V I E W
A LEG TO STAND ON
Blake Gillikin anchors PSU's punting unit – and may have a second job this fall
E
arly in Penn State's game against
Nebraska last November, the of-
fense stalled out at its own 18-yard
line, which meant that the team needed a
long punt from Blake Gillikin to avoid
giving the Cornhuskers a short field to
work with.
Instead, beset by rainy field conditions
and falling temperatures, Gillikin lined an
18-yarder out of bounds, and Nebraska
quickly scored the go-ahead touchdown.
Nearly eight months have passed since
that soggy afternoon in Beaver Stadium,
but he still remembers the moment with
absolute clarity, even though his imme-
diate impulse was to put it behind him as
quickly as possible. "One of the most dif-
ficult parts of being a specialist and only
getting so many opportunities and mess-
ing up tragically on one of those oppor-
tunities is that you have to refocus and get
back to what you know how to do," he
said.
Tragic might seem like a harsh word to
describe a shanked first-quarter punt in
a game that the Nittany Lions ended up
winning, 56-44. But when one's goals are
wildly ambitious, every glitch tends to as-
sume an outsized place in the memory.
And make no mistake: Gillikin's goals are
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KICKING BACK Gillikin
launches a punt
against Georgia State
last year. A two-year
starter, he goes into
his junior season with
a 43.0-yard average.
Photo by Steve
Manuel
