Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/775386
A T T H E 2 0 1 7 N I T T A N Y L I O N S Sanders; LS: Zach Ladonis; P: Blake Gillikin, Chris Gulla, Daniel Pasquariello; PK: Tyler Davis, Joey Julius; PR: John Reid KEY LOSSES LS: Tyler Yazujian; PR: Gregg Garrity NEWCOMER PK: Alex Barbir OUTLOOK This area was a strength in 2016. The kicking game played a pivotal role in the biggest win of the season, as a blocked punt and blocked field goal both led to fourth-quarter touchdowns in the Nittany Lions' comeback victory over Ohio State. What's more, the Lions got great individual performances from Davis, who hit 22 of 24 field goal at- tempts and 62 of 62 PATs, Julius, who sent 45 of his 93 kickoffs deep into the end zone for touchbacks while flattening more than his share of return men, and Gillikin, who averaged 42.8 yards per punt to rank third in the Big Ten. Gillikin's performance was especially welcome, as erratic punting had been one of the Lions' bigger problems the previous two seasons, costing them countless yards in lost field position. The freshman from Smyrna, Ga., was one of two specialists to receive a schol- arship last year, and it appears that this was money well spent. The Lions also fared better in some of the less-obvious areas, such as punt and kickoff coverage. They ranked third in the Big Ten in punting average (42.0 yards) and second in kick coverage (41.0 yards). With nearly everybody of note return- ing in 2017, this should be an area of con- tinued growth. Davis and Julius will be entering their third year as major con- tributors, while Gillikin now has a full college season under his belt. If there's an area where Penn State still needs to make significant strides, it's on kickoff and punt returns. The Lions fin- ished 10th in the Big Ten in the former (19.7 yards per attempt) and 11th in the latter (6.5). Reid got off to a hot start, in- cluding a 59-yard return against Pitt in week two. But outside of the nonconfer- ence season, he had only one return of more than 10 yards – a 19-yarder against Indiana – and finished with a 7.5-yard average. Because Reid is one of the Lions' most important defensive players, it wouldn't be surprising to see a freshman get a shot at winning this job. Mac Hip- penhammer and Lamont Wade were both special teams standouts in high school, to name just two potential can- didates. On kick returns, Sanders had a couple of rough moments against USC and Rutgers, but he looks like he could be a game- breaker. He flashed his speed on a 48- yard return vs. Iowa. Although his average of 20.8 yards per attempt was not among the conference's 10 best, he's clearly got potential, and the coaching staff needs to find ways of getting him touches that don't entail Barkley coming out of the game. ■ Sandwiches • Salads • Spuds • Soups • Sweet Tea HUB-Robeson Center • On-Campus mcalistersdeli.com he ic w nd a S • s ad al S • s u o S • s ud Sp T t ee w S • s p u a e T