Blue White Illustrated

BRONX, N.Y. – Sam Ficken doesn't cheer against opposing kickers. Consid- ering the trials and tribulations that he endured early in his Penn State career – most notoriously those four missed 8eld goals at Virginia early in his sophomore year – he understands how stressful the job can be. It's not that he's hoping for the other team to score; he simply has some empa- thy for his counterparts in this small brotherhood and knows that there's no point in sending any more negative en- ergy in their direction. But there was a moment Saturday night in Yankee Stadium – when Boston Col- lege's Mike Knoll slipped on the grass and pushed an overtime PAT wide right – in which Ficken felt a jolt of positive energy. "I never root for another kicker to miss because of what I went through. How- ever, I was a little excited," he said, smil- ing in the Pinstripe Bowl postgame media room. As a result of Knoll's miss, Boston Col- lege had only a six-point lead when it gave Penn State the ball for the bottom segment of the 8rst overtime period. Six plays later, Christian Hackenberg found tight end Kyle Carter for a touchdown to knot the score, 30-30. Then Ficken got the nod. It was his 45-yard 8eld goal with 20 seconds le that had sent the game to overtime, so by comparison, this ap- peared to be a much simpler task. With a chance to give his team the vic- tory, it was set up for a 8tting ending. One of the more storied kickers in school history, he was presented with the chance to 8nish his PSU career with a walk-o PAT. Never in his football career had he been given such an opportunity. Of course, he nailed it. Was it a coincidence that the locker he had used all week was that of Derek Jeter, who a few months earlier had capped his storied career with a walk-o base hit in Yankee Stadium? Maybe so, but as Ficken said, "I couldn't have written any better of a way to go out. This team has worked so hard, fought through so much. To say that we made it to a bowl 8rst o and then we won the bowl, it's pretty cool." Ficken ended his senior season with 24 8eld goals in 29 attempts, and he also hit all 28 of his PATs. For his career, he made 54 of 75 8eld goal attempts and missed only three extra-point tries. Since Franklin was hired at Penn State, he's praised Ficken as one of the team's most inEuential leaders. Aer the Pinstripe Bowl, he lauded the senior for the last time in a postgame news conference setting. Franklin referred to Ficken "as probably our best oensive weapon all year" and said he was "as consistent as any player in our program." Then Franklin acknowledged another wrinkle in the whole Ficken send-o story. A 8nance major who interned for Mer- rill Lynch last summer, Ficken had the privilege of ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. It was a one-of-a-kind experience for Ficken, but Franklin said it oered some- thing even more symbolic. "He rang the bell to start this bowl weekend," the coach said, "and he rang the bell to kick the 8eld goal to end it. I'm really happy for him." D E C E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 6 FITTING FINALE Sam Ficken's walk-off PAT caps a stellar career with the Nittany Lions T I M O W E N | O W E N . T I M . B W I @ G M A I L . C O M FINISHING KICK Ficken's 45- yard field goal and overtime PAT lifted the Lions to victory. Photo by Steve Manuel

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