Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1486024
D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 2 3 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M cas] was talking trash to him the whole time: 'Kick it to me, kick it to me, you're scared to kick it to me.' They're going back and forth. So, I think that was a major factor." The other factor, of course, was the work that Pinegar had put in during his five years at Penn State. When he arrived at PSU from Ankeny, Iowa, in 2018, the coaches had hoped he would develop into the kind of specialist who could handle all sorts of kicks. But he didn't possess that type of versatility his first few years on cam- pus. When Stout transferred in from Virginia Tech in 2019, the Lions settled on a platoon system in which the new- comer would handle kickoffs and field goal attempts of 50 or more yards, while Pinegar would attempt kicks from more makeable distances. "Early on, when he was focused on field goals only, he was not great at kickoffs, and we were trying to get him to do both," Franklin said. "I know he's got aspirations, like all these guys do, to continue playing professionally, and most of those guys are going to have to do two jobs, whether it's field goals and kickoffs or punts and kickoffs. You've got to try to bring a little bit more value there, and he really embraced it and worked like crazy in the offseason. "Obviously, Stout was elite at that. With Stout moving on, there was an opportunity and a need there. We'd like to specialize whenever we can, but it just was obvious that Jake could handle both, and he's done a really nice job in both areas. You would not have said that two, three years ago, but he's worked hard at it and is doing a good job there." After serving as the team's starting placekicker during the 2018, '19 and '20 seasons, Pinegar redshirted last year, while Stout handled all of the team's kicking and punting duties. J A K E P I N E G A R B Y T H E N U M B E R S Year FG Att Made Lg Pct Blk KO Yds Avg TB OB 2018 24 16 49 66.7 2 3 184 61.3 0 0 2019 12 11 47 91.7 0 0 0 0 0 0 2020 13 9 40 69.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2021 2 1 43 50.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2022 16 12 50 75.0 0 46 2,950 64.1 31 1 Total 67 49 50 73.1 2 49 3,134 64.0 31 1