Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1492675
M A R C H 2 0 2 3 5 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T R A N S F E R S / / / / / / / Three-time All-Ivy League kicker Alex Felkins announced in December that he would be transferring from Columbia to Penn State for his senior year. His arrival has given redshirt sopho- mores Sander Sahaydak and Gabriel Nwosu some competition for the start- ing job that opened up when Jake Pinegar elected not to use his final season of eligi- bility. Having arrived in January, Felkins plans on doing everything he can to claim that role. "I'm walking into a big school where I have a 50-50 shot to play," he said prior to his arrival. "With Jake and Chris [Stoll, a four-year starter at long snapper] leav- ing, the specialist group is pretty young. They're looking to me to come in and pro- vide a leadership role. They have Sander there. He's really, really talented, but he hasn't played [a lot] yet. "They haven't promised me anything at all," Felkins added. "It's very much a 50-50 competition. I'm just looking to come in and compete. I've never had any real competition since I've been in college, so I'm excited to come in and compete with a guy who is talented and see how I can hold up. I believe I rise up when I'm in a competitive situation." Felkins expects to be an immediate part of the battles for both the kickoff and field goal jobs. He did both at Columbia, hit- ting 66.7 percent of his field goal attempts (36 of 54) while delivering 91 touchbacks on 145 kickoffs. Felkins, who was rated by On3 as the No. 13 kicker in the transfer portal, said he believes he's equally good at both roles, but maybe "a little bit better on field goals" at this point in his career. He isn't on scholarship, but he has the highest of aspirations. "For this kind of recruiting process, it was 100 percent a football-first deci- sion for me," he said. "Coming out of high school, I had some bigger offers, but I made a 40-year decision to go to Colum- bia and set myself up for the rest of my life when my football career is over. "With this grad transfer process, my ul- timate goal is to go to the NFL, so I wanted to pick the program that was going to put me in the best position to do that." — Nate Bauer Florida Atlantic punter Riley Thomp- son piqued the interest of several schools when his name showed up in the transfer portal in December. But when Penn State head coach James Franklin and special teams coordinator Stacy Collins reached out, his transfer process ended pretty much right then and there. "I didn't think about Penn State twice," Thompson said. "The history of the school and the history of their punt- ers is incredible. Meeting Coach Collins and Coach Franklin really just made it all the sweeter. I loved everything they had to say." Two Penn State punters are now start- ing in the NFL — Blake Gillikin with the New Orleans Saints and Jordan Stout with the Baltimore Ravens. Stout came to PSU as a transfer from Virginia Tech and developed into one of the Big Ten's top specialists during his time in State College. Thompson, a native of Mel- bourne, Australia, will look to follow in those footsteps. In his only season at Florida Atlan- tic, Thompson averaged 45.4 yards on 61 punts. He had an eye-catching 15 punts of 50 or more yards, and 26 of his at- tempts were downed inside the oppo- nent's 20-yard line. Following the season, Thompson earned All-America honors from mul- tiple publications. College Football News and The Athletic both named him to their Freshman All-America teams, and he was also a third-team choice by Pro Football Focus. Thompson earned an overall grade of 71.6 from PFF this past season, which ranked 10th nation- ally among 33 punters who attempted 60 punts or more. Even though Thompson earned fresh- man accolades, the NCAA considers him to be a senior because it counts the time he spent at Deakin University in his homeland against his eligibility. He also trained at Prokick Australia, which develops punters in the hope of helping them find playing opportunities in the United States. The Nittany Lions have consistently looked to the transfer portal in recent years to add depth to their special teams. In 2021, they brought in former Colgate punter Barney Amor via the portal. Amor earned a scholarship last August and went on to garner honorable mention All-Big Ten notice in his lone starting season. With Amor having exhausted his eligi- bility, the Lions have to find his succes- sor. Thompson, rated by On3 as the No. 5 punter in the portal, will be on scholar- ship and will compete for the job with redshirt freshman Alex Bacchetta. — Ryan Snyder Riley Thompson Swayed By Nittany Lions' Punting History Alex Felkins Aims To Make Most Of Power Five Opportunity THE THOMPSON FILE P | Sr. 6-1 | 215 Florida Atlantic Deakin University Melbourne, Australia THE FELKINS FILE ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ PK | Sr. 6-3 | 200 Columbia Holland Hall School Tulsa, Okla.