Penn State Football: Franklin Talks Kicking Job as Stout Handles All Duties

Despite missing a field goal and an extra point this past weekend against Wisconsin, Penn State appears set to stick with specialist Jordan Stout for all kicking duties. According to coach James Franklin, kicker Jake Pinegar was available this past weekend but Penn State opted to stick with the do-it-all Stout.

“It really came down to camp,” Franklin said. “I say this to [the media] all the time, and I don’t know if you guys always necessarily believe me, but at each position, whether it’s the starting quarterback or starting kicker, you compete for it every year, you compete for it every camp, you compete for it every week, and we track everything. Literally, every kick. 

“The consistency, the accuracy, the snap, the hold, the location; we have field goal percentage rates, we have hang time on punts, and kicks’ distance, and all those types of things, and based on all the numbers of training camp, you know, [Stout] won the job now.”

In spite of Stout’s two misses — an extra point that hit the upright and a 23-yard field goal from the hash — Franklin is set on giving Stout another chance to prove his worth. This decision goes a bit in the face of Penn State’s usual handling of kicking duties under Franklin. Traditionally, Penn State has leaned on Stout for kickoffs and punting while Pinegar had taken field goals from inside of 40-yards.

Over the course of his career Pinegar is 36-of-49 but missed four kicks in 2020, dropping off from an 11-for-12 mark a year earlier.

Despite the misses, Stout was ultimately named the Big Ten Specialist of The Week following a punting performance that saw him average 53.9 yards per punt on seven attempts, and kicked four touchbacks. As far as making the switch after one outing? Franklin isn’t ready to pull the trigger just yet.

“Obviously we won’t make that determination off of one game,” Franklin said. “We got to get those things cleaned up, there’s no doubt about it. I’m also very, very proud of him because some guys wouldn’t be able to handle that well. That would seep into the kickoff, that would seep into the punting, and the guy was the Special Teams Player the week in the Big Ten, so I do think he took the right approach.”

Franklin was also complimentary of Stout’s ability to put the misses behind him. His first punt following his field goal miss traveled 76-yards.

“We talk about six seconds at a time, you know, being your best one play at a time and no matter what happens at the end of that play, you move on to the next one and do it again, both mentally, physically and emotionally and I thought Jordan did a great job of that.”

As for the once heralded kicker? Franklin says Pinegar will still have a role on the team.

“I think Jake Pinegar still has a tremendous future,” Franklin said. “We’re going to need him at some point this year as well, and I know he’s approaching it that way.”