Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/84628
Buoyed by teammates' support, Sam Ficken looks to come back strong SAM'S CLUB MATT hERB | M A T T@B L U E WH I T E O N L I N E . C O M He had missed three of four field goal attempts and an extra point, but when Sam Ficken stepped onto the field with one second to play at Vir- ginia earlier this month, there were no knots in his stomach, no feelings of apprehension floating around in his head. Quite the opposite. "I was actually pretty happy to re- deem myself," Ficken said. "I think I missed four kicks my whole senior year [in high school]. I never experi- enced missing that many kicks in one game, so I was happy to get out there and try to be the hero. "Unfortunately, it didn't happen." Didn't even come close, really. Ficken's 43-yard attempt veered wide left to preserve a 17-16 Virginia vic- tory. The law of averages may have been working in Ficken's favor, but not much else was going his way on that last kick. The snap was low and the rain was picking up, making the field conditions a bit more treacher- ous than they'd been earlier in the af- ternoon. Ficken received a lot of friendly fire after his 1-of-5 afternoon against the Cavaliers, much of it delivered via so- cial media. Nittany Nation was upset, and it vented its frustration in no un- certain terms. Ficken described the days and weeks that followed as "a roller coaster ride." "What happened at Virginia was pretty disappointing," he said. "But it's my job to keep moving forward, and I had to focus on that and my technique and think about the next kick. It was up and down. I got a lot of support from family and friends, and a lot of PSU supporters out there reached out to me – letters, emails, messages, that kind of thing. So it felt pretty good to have that support." Ficken heard first from his family. They were on the phone as soon as Penn State's plane touched down in University Park following the game. sophomore's footwork. "What's impor- tant for all kickers, starting with Sam, is to think about the plant foot," O'Brien said. "Wherever the plant foot is pointed is where that ball is going to go. So we've done a lot of work … on his plant foot and understanding that, hey, it can't be pointed in a dif- ferent direction every single kick. It's gotta be the same direction as it re- lates to where we're trying to kick the football. So it's 11 guys doing a better job of protecting and Sam getting bet- ter at his overall technique." Ficken said that since the Virginia Jonh Beale HELPING HANDS Ficken has received encour- agement from teammates, fans and former play- ers since his rough outing at Virginia. That night, he watched football on TV with some of his friends on the team: Deron Thompson, T.J. Rhattigan, Jor- dan Kerner, Angelo Mangiro and Ben Kline. Everyone tried to forget about the game for a while. In the days that followed, he re- ceived words of encouragement from fans and former players, including former Penn State place-kickers Rob- bie Gould, Kevin Kelly and Massimo Manca. He even heard from Min- nesota Vikings kicker Blair Walsh, who played his college ball at Georgia. While the messengers varied, the message itself was consistent: "You're a good kicker, so keep your head up. Think about the next game." Bill O'Brien has told him much the same since his rough outing in week two. The focus in practice has been on refining the whole snap-hold-kick process while also improving the S E P T E M B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 2 11 game he's also been working to keep his head down when he strikes the ball. That was one of the problems against the Cavaliers, he said. "I was pulling it up, and you're never sup- posed to do that as a kicker. The whole process – the snap, the hold, the kick – wasn't perfect. But that's definitely back on me. I have to make those kicks either way." Ficken said he accepts his share of the blame for the Virginia loss. "I missed four kicks," he said. "I missed a 20-yard field goal. I missed an extra point." But he's focused primarily on moving forward. The Nittany Lions will almost certainly need to get more out of their kicking game with the Big Ten season about to get under way. They are currently last in the confer- ence with a conversion rate of only 33 percent (2 of 6). Whatever hopes they have of improving in that department will likely hinge on Ficken's develop- ment. The support he's gotten – particu- larly the emails from former players – have helped him to move on. Said Ficken, "I've gotten a lot of messages from previous kickers here at Penn State, saying, 'Hey, I had rough game against so-and-so and bounced back from it. Don't worry about it. You're obviously pretty good – you're here – so move on to the next kick.' " B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M