Blue White Illustrated

S P R I N G P R A C T I C E t the conclusion of each practice, it's common for the coaches to call the kickers and punters to the middle of the field to compete. Make the kick, and the team gets a break in conditioning; miss it, and extra wind sprints are on the way. On a roster that has seven punters and kickers, with only two who have game ex- perience, it's a method aimed at simulating the pressure of a game situation. It happens not just at Penn State, but at many other programs across the country. "When you have a rookie kicker, they've never kicked in a game, so being in the stadium, seeing the fans, all eyes on you, it's a little bit different," special teams coordinator Charles Huff said. "It's something you can't necessarily repeat in practice." So, at the Blue-White Game, Penn State used the 68,000 fans in Beaver Stadium to its ad- vantage. Prior to kickoff, Penn State's kickers, attempting one kick after another, com- peted in field goal attempts ranging from 37 yards to 59. Then at halftime, the punters took their turn, aiming to down their punts in a specific area of the field and trying to create more hang time than their teammates. It was the first time anything of that nature had taken place at Penn State's annual spring game. And for Huff, it's the first time he's heard of any team doing it. That's because only a handful of football teams have a spring scrimmage atmos- phere that can even come close to mim- icking a game-day environment in the fall. "This place is special," Huff said. "Every- body doesn't have 68,000 for a spring game. So you can say you're having a kick- ing competition, but there's going to only A FINISHING KICK Julius attempts a field goal during the Blue-White Game. A redshirt freshman from Hummelstown, Pa., Julius appears to be the frontrunner to replace Sam Ficken. Photo by Steve Manuel

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