Blue White Illustrated

In a season full of upheaval, a season of winning streaks and losing streaks, nar- row victories, agonizing defeats, over- time drama, off-the-field drama, even pregame handshake drama, one of the few constants has been Sam Ficken. Through eight games, Ficken has been one of the nation's most reliable place- kickers, making 17 of 19 field goal at- tempts. Playing for a team with major red-zone issues, he has been called upon repeatedly to salvage drives gone awry – to the point where he ranks third in the Football Bowl Subdivision in field goals made per game (2.13) and sixth in the Big Ten in scoring with 68 points. Unfazed by pressure situations – he made the winning kick against UCF and the tying kick against Ohio State – he has supplied 40 percent of Penn State's points this season. "Right now, Ficken can run for mayor of State College," said coach James Franklin, who has been singing Ficken's praises since the spring. "Everybody loves him. He's an awesome kid, he's the whole package. ... But there was a time a few years ago when people weren't really feeling that way." That time was in the immediate aCer- math of a one-point loss to Virginia in September 2012, a game in which the then-sophomore missed four field goal attempts and an extra point. It was a dis- heartening moment, and the outcry that followed was predictably brutal. But as it turns out, that game may have set Ficken on a path to becoming one of the most successful kickers in Penn State history. "To go through that experience made me work extremely hard to get where I wanted to be," Ficken said. "Also, it en- abled me to work with some really great people, Robbie Gould especially. Had I not done that, I don't know if he would have personally reached out to me." Gould, a former Penn State kicker who had gone on to become an All-Pro with the Chicago Bears, contacted Ficken aCer the Virginia game to cheer him up and help him refine his fundamentals. During the past three seasons, Ficken has attrib- uted much of his success to his ongoing work with Gould. And make no mistake, there's been plenty of success. ACer his four field goals against Maryland last Saturday – he was named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time this season – Ficken now has 47 for his career and is tied with Travis Forney for third place on Penn State's all-time list. The Valparaiso, Ind., native heads back to his home state this weekend needing three field goals to move into a tie with Craig Fayak for second place. One thing Ficken hasn't done for Penn State this fall is punt. He took some reps with the pun- ters this past spring but never seriously considered pulling double duty this sea- son. Even with Chris Gulla and Danny Pasquariello struggling – Penn State is 12th in the Big Ten with a 33.9-yard av- erage – Ficken said he's not been asked to step in. He said his hang time wasn't very good when he worked out at the position in the spring. And besides, he added, "we have complete faith in our two guys. They're working to get better. They're right there. They're on the precipice of being really good. We've seen it in practice. It just needs to translate over to games." M A T T   H E R B | M A T T @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M N O V E M B E R 5 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 11 Finishing kick PK Sam Ficken shines in his final season with the Nittany Lions MOVING ON UP With his four field goals against Maryland, Ficken moved into a tie for third place on Penn State's all-time list. He now has 47 field goals in his career. Photo by Steve Manuel

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