Blue White Illustrated

and-longs, but most of them fell into a situation where it was better to go for it and maybe get a touchdown out of that drive than a field goal. That's how it fell last year. Who knows how it will fall this year." If more of those fourth-and-3s turn into fourth-and-longs this year, it's likely that O'Brien will feel more comfortable calling on Ficken to salvage the drive. "He's kicking with more con- fidence. He's got a stronger leg," O'Brien said. "I think one year in the weight room really helped him. But it comes down to mentality. He's a more confident guy." Ficken admitted that his confidence wavered a bit early last season, but he got it back eventually, in part by thinking back to his high school career at Valparaiso (Ind.) High, where he made 13 field goals as a senior, in- cluding a school-record 52-yarder. "Every time the ball goes through the uprights, your confidence is going to go up," Ficken said. "People say it's 99 percent mental and 1 percent physical. I would disagree with that a little bit, but it definitely helps when you're not worried that you're doing things wrong on every kick. I've [had] a great spring, so it's been working pretty well." Freshman specialist looks to compete for starting spots | Bill O'Brien has made it clear that "run-ons" will play a significant role at Penn State throughout the next few years. Of the nonscholarship players who are set to join the roster, the one who may be best positioned to make an immediate impact is Chris Gulla. Although he will begin his career behind two incumbent starters, the Toms River, N.J., prospect is striving to become either the Nittany Lions' starting kicker or punter as a true freshman. Maybe both. "It was the goal I set as soon as I committed: to be the starter for both kicking and punting for all four years," GULLA Gulla said. "And I've been working really hard to complete that goal. I really do feel that I can win both of these jobs." The Penn State coaches have told him he'll have a chance to compete for both starting spots. Gulla, a 6foot-2, 200-pound prospect who bench presses 305 pounds, plans to take advantage of the opportunity. He will certainly arrive on campus with a chip on his shoulder. Gulla came awfully close to earning Division I scholarship offers, which he said he would have accepted over the offer he received from Penn State to join the team as a preferred walk-on. He camped at South Carolina and Maryland in the summer before his senior season, and although coaches from both programs originally said they were willing to extend an offer to a kicker, neither one followed through. "I went down to South Carolina because I was told there was a scholarship for a kicker," Gulla recalled. "I killed it down there. I was No. 1 on their board and then it turned out there wasn't going to be a scholarship for a kicker. [Something similar] happened at Maryland, too." After camping with Terrapins – and then learning that they were going to make an offer to a kicker from Aus- tralia – Gulla camped with the Nittany Lions the following weekend. He knew going into the Penn State camp that the NCAA's scholarship reductions would make it all but impossible for the Lions to extend an offer. But that was OK. Gulla used to dream of playing in Beaver Stadium. His sister is a graduate student at University Park, his grandparents are season-ticket holders, and his head coach at Toms River North, Chip LaBarca, played wide receiver for Joe Paterno in the early 1990s. And Gulla appreciated assistant coach Ron Vanderlinden's straightforward recruiting pitch, which contrasted sharply with the runaround he was hearing from some other coaching staffs. "Coach Vanderlinden was honest with me from the beginning," he said. "He told me to come up for a workout, so I came up and kicked there. He was straight-up. He told me if I want to come here, I can walk on. "From there on out, they told me if I walk on, then I'll be their guy." Gulla considers himself a kicker, coming in as the No. 19 prospect in the nation as rated by Chris Sailer Kicking. Throughout his four years as a starter, Gulla converted 17 of his 22 field goal attempts, including a 45yard long, which was also a game-winner. When he camped at Penn State, he hit 19 of his 20 attempts from inside 55 yards while Vanderlinden watched. However, Gulla might be more likely to see early playing time as a punter. He averaged 42 yards per punt during his senior season, and he averages close to 4.5 seconds of hang time. Penn State's returning starter, Alex Butterworth, averaged a career-low 37.4 yards as a starter last fall. The kicking game has been a concern, as well, as illustrated by Sam Ficken's missed PAT and field goal in the Blue-White Game. O'Brien and his staff encourage competition on the practice field. This fall, the punters and kickers will be no exception.

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