Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1524108
7 6 A U G U S T 2 0 2 4 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M / / / / / / / 2 0 2 4 F O O T B A L L P R E V I E W / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / H ead coach James Franklin turned to a familiar target when he needed to find a special teams coordinator earlier this offseason. The kicking game has been a point of pride for the Nittany Lions under his direc- tion, and that meant opening the door to another homecoming. Justin Lustig, an Erie, Pa., native and a team captain during his playing days at Bucknell, was the pick. Having pre- viously sought to bring Lustig into the program, Franklin was eager to finally make the connection. "I've been a fan of his for a long time," Franklin said. "To be able to get him back in Pennsylvania and here at Penn State has been good." Boasting more than two decades of coaching experience since his time with the Bison in the late 1990s, Lustig ap- preciates the opportunity he's been given. He is coming off three seasons as special teams coordinator at Vander- bilt and four seasons at Syracuse before that. Other items in his résumé include a season in charge of Villanova's cor- nerbacks and a one-year tenure as head coach at Edinboro in 2016, during which he guided the Fighting Scots to a 9-2 record and was named D2Football.com Coach of the Year. (They were 0-11 the year before.) Six months into his tenure with the Nittany Lions, Lustig has been enjoying his return to his Pennsylvania roots. "Coming home has been awesome," he said. "It might be a recruiting event or a camp or it might even just be in a restaurant in town, but what has hap- pened to me numerous times is that I run into somebody from my hometown, or a relative of somebody I played with at Bucknell, or just some acquaintance from my PA roots. That's been fun." Lustig has succeeded Stacy Collins, a Westerner who sought a homecoming of his own by returning to Boise State in January. Collins enjoyed two success- ful seasons with the Nittany Lions, and Lustig will be looking to continue that trend. A year ago, the Nittany Lions fin- ished 17th in the FBS in the Fremeau Efficiency Index Special Teams Ratings, which use opponent-adjusted data to assess teams' point-scoring capacity in the kicking game. The Nittany Lions are expecting some carryover from last year as preseason camp approaches. Franklin said a desire for continuity was one of the reasons for Lustig's appointment to the role. "We're still running the same special teams that we have under the past two coordinators," Franklin said. "He's had a few tweaks, but for the most part there are still a lot of similarities with what we've done in the past." Last year, Penn State finished sixth nationally in net punting, averaging 42.9 yards per attempt. Kickoff returns were robust, with the Lions averaging 23.3 yards per attempt to rank 21st na- tionally. Kickoff-return defense wasn't far behind, with PSU allowing 16.8 yards per return (22nd), and punt-return de- fense was nearly the same, finishing 24th (4.6 yards per return). Punt re- turns, meanwhile, were good for 32nd nationally at 10.8 yards per attempt. First-year coordinator Justin Lustig returns to his Pennsylvania roots to oversee the Nittany Lions' kicking game Keystone State Of Mind NAT E BAU E R | N AT E . B A U E R @ O N 3 . C O M