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AIMING TO PLEASE Sam Ficken works overtime to revive the Nittany Lions' kicking game | T here's a rule of thumb for kickers: Kick 45, maybe 50 balls a day. Less than that, you're not properly preparing. More than that, you're risking injury. Sam Ficken ignored it. The week after the Virginia game – when he missed an extra point and four field goals, including a 42-yarder that would have won the game – Penn State's sophomore kicker went a little bananas. "I probably kicked 100 a day," he said. He then dialed it back… to 70, maybe 75 kicks a day. For six weeks. All of that practice took a toll when Ficken injured his quadriceps and couldn't kick at all the week leading up to the Ohio State game. "I kicked so much," he said, "I think my leg finally gave in." But Ficken wasn't kicking just to kick. He reached out to former Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould, who helped to hone his technique. He made some adjustments suggested by assistant coach John Butler, who handles the Nittany Lions' special teams. And although Ficken's quad muscle was, he says, only 85 or 90 percent healed by the end of the season, he finished by hitting his final 10 fieldgoal attempts, including the 37-yard winner in overtime against Wisconsin. "I guess that could be considered an exclamation point," Ficken said. Ficken had never expected to find himself in such a situation. He'd been more than reliable in high school, earning Indiana Class 5A All-State recognition and making three winning kicks as a senior at Valparaiso High School. Among the 13 field goals he made that senior year was a 52-yarder. He didn't see much action as a Penn State freshman playing behind Anthony Fera, but when Fera transferred to Texas after the NCAA sanctions, Ficken became the team's only option. And he struggled. He missed those four field goals against Virginia, including a 20-yarder, and he got a significant number of angry messages on social media. Coach Bill O'Brien defended Ficken at his news conference the week after the game, saying that the protection, the snap and the hold weren't "always great," either. But O'Brien began going for it on BEST FOOT FORWARD Ficken made his final 10 kicks of the season, including a 37yarder in overtime that lifted Penn State past Wisconsin. fourth down in what seemed to be obvious kicking situations, although he continually denied it was because he lacked confidence in Ficken: "I just liked the play call," he said, repeatedly. Ficken said he didn't worry about that. "That's Coach's call. I'm not a

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