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P R E V I E W starting punter job late last season, but coming out of Toms River (N.J.) North High two years ago, he was much more highly regarded as a place-kicker. A four-year starter, he went 17 of 22 in his high school career, including a 12-of-14 performance his junior and senior sea- sons. With Ficken :rmly established as the team's starter, Gulla didn't get a chance to show his kicking potential last season. He has yet to attempt a :eld goal or PAT in his college career, nor has he kicked o; for the Lions. But he :gures to get his opportunity this spring. His leading competitor is likely to be Julius, who enrolled at Penn State last fall out of Lower Daughin (Pa.) High. Julius had initially planned on accepting a soccer scholarship from Southern Illi- nois University-Edwardsville, but he had gotten plenty of attention from FBS schools as a place-kicking prospect and he decided he preferred football to fut- bol. Julius didn't get on the :eld last year, but he did get a shout-out from James Franklin in December during the Nittany Lions' Pinstripe Bowl prep. "That's going to be an important piece for us moving forward with Ficken grad- uating and moving on," Franklin said, "and [Julius] has done such a great job for us." Special teams coordinator Charles Hu; said last year that Julius has Ficken's range and now must work on developing consistency. "I'm really look- ing forward to seeing him per- form in the spring, when at- tention is a little more on just him," Hu; said in December prior to the Pinstripe Bowl. "Up to this point, he's done an excellent job." The punting situation is likewise up in the air, which is more than can be said for many of Penn State's punts last sea- son. The Nittany Lions :nished the sea- son with a net punting average of 34.3 yards, ninth-best in the Big Ten. Gulla had been a self-taught punter at Toms River North, and his inexperience showed, as he averaged 37.3 yards on 28 attempts before losing the position to Danny Pasquariello. A freshman from Australia, Pasquariello had some ups and downs of his own. In the Pinstripe Bowl, he averaged 34.5 yards on six at- tempts. Pasquariello and Gulla are expected to continue their duel into preseason drills, and they probably won't be the only ones in contention for the starting job. The Lions are also expected to audition Robby Liebel, a redshirt freshman from St. Petersburg, Fla. Liebel previously at- tended IMG Academy in Florida. 5 Where are the Lions likely to make their biggest im- provement this spring? The obvious answer here is the o;en- sive line. The Nittany Lions were in as perilous a situation as one could imagine a year ago, with their already-thin line shedding rather than gaining depth due to a succession of injuries. With barely enough players to :ll out a two-deep depth chart, this unit was destined to struggle, and struggle it did. Now that it's had a chance to regroup and add STRETCHING THE FIELD Franklin is getting set to over- see spring practice for the sec- ond time at Penn State. The Nittany Lions return 15 starters: seven apiece on offense and defense and one specialist. Photo by Patrick Mansell

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