Penn State Football: Week 7 Studs and Duds against Michigan State
By Corey Hunter
K – Jake Pinegar
True Freshman placekicker Jake Pinegar has been a player that has remained mostly in the shadows until he has been called upon. Unfortunately, when he has been needed, he has come up mostly snake eyes for the Nittany Lions. On the season, Pinegar is four-for-eight in his field goal attempts with a long of just 39 yards.
Early in the season his misses were chalked up to either bad weather conditions or poor footing, but lately he has been suspect when all of the elements align. This past weekend Pinegar missed a 37-yard field goal that would have put the Nittany Lions ahead 17-14. He would add a 20-yard field goal on Penn State’s ensuing possession. However, his inconsistency in placekicking has caused even head coach James Franklin to possibly re-evaluate the position.
After Saturday’s game, Franklin had this to say, “Obviously, we’re not kicking the way we need to kick.” Franklin went on to add, “We all know coming into the season that we have inexperience at the kicker position. In practice, we are hitting at a real high percentage. We’ve got to be able to do it under the lights, pressure, consistently at this level. We’ll revisit that we’ll take a hard look at it.” (quotes courtesy of gopsusports.com).
No one will question young Pinegar’s leg strength, but his confidence is beginning to bottom out. During pre-game and halftime warmups, I will watch him and he is missing high level of kicks inside 40 yards. I will not be surprised either way if Franklin makes a change or sticks with Pinegar. Franklin is very much a player’s coach and really needs his Freshman to answer the call. Either way, the placekicking position will be one to watch this week at Indiana.