Joey Julius — wearing a tight grey T-shirt, white football pants, very short white socks and kicking cleats — was alone on Penn State’s outdoor practice field on Wednesday.
Practice was over. But Julius, aka The Big Toe, was not.
He was attempting field goal after field goal.
Just an hour earlier, Sam Ficken – Julius is working to be his successor — followed a stint lifting weights inside Lasch Building with a kicking session of his own. Only it was in Holuba Hall. Alone.
When we chatted that morning, Ficken was wearing a crooked grin, a civilian T-shirt and gym shorts, and his trademark air of muted confidence.
Ficken, undrafted and unsigned by the NFL, is coming off a superb senior season at Penn State, where he made 24 of 29 field goals and had a direct foot in four of the team’s seven victories – his field goals making the difference in wins over Central Florida (31-30), Rutgers (13-10), Indiana (13-7) and Boston College (31-30).
Sam was James Franklin’s #notsosecretweapon.
SAM I AM
Ficken made 17 field goals in eight Big Ten Conference games, compared to the eight TDs scored by the Penn State offense during the same stretch. In 2014, Penn State attempted more field goals (29, 18% of all possessions) than its offense scored touchdowns (26, 16%).
On a 7-6 team that went 2-6 to close out the regular season, Ficken accounted for 27% of the Nittany Lions’ points – more than double the 12.5% that Franklin’s teams did at Vanderbilt. Even with the very talented Casey Spear as the Commodores kicker, making 35 of 43 field goals attempts in 2012-13, Vanderbilt’s field goal game accounted for just 7%, 15% and 11.5% of its overall scoring attack from 2011-13.
Wednesday morning at Penn State’s football complex only underscored the changing of the guard – er, kickers.
Sam was inside Holuba, but out of Penn State. Julius was outside, but trying to work his way in as Franklin’s go-to place-kicker in 2015. So while Ficken was kicking in solitude, hoping for a call as NFL camps start to boot kickers and fine-tune rosters, Julius wasn’t truly alone after Wednesday’s practice.
Freshman QB Tommy Stephens was taking snaps from freshman center Ryan Bates, after which Stephens split left, showed some neat footwork and caught a 30-yarder from Bates. Stephens then returned the favor with a 40-yard floater gleefully hauled in by Bates.
In the far corner of the field, three Nittany Lion players were running gassers, doing up-downs and high knee-lifts under the direction of two strength coaches. It didn’t look like a reward for good behavior.
Across the field, a couple of linemen – led by Wendy Laurent – were running two-man drills.
ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER
Then there was Julius, a redshirt freshman battling sophomore Tyler Davis for the starting place-kicker job in 2015. He was getting in some needed extra field goal attempts. Despite the few other players just 15 and 20 yards away, for all intents and purposes Julius was alone.
Not the alone he felt after missing two last-second field goal attempts from just inside the 45-yard line at the end of practice, the unsatisfying culmination of two two-minute drills that both concluded in zero points. (Julius’ first kick hit the lower crossbar to the right and the second was simply wide right.)
We’re talking alone alone. But that was no doubt preceded and precipitated by the feeling he had after missing the field goals at the end of practice. Both silenced a raucous group of 100 teammates, buoyed by a strong two-minute offense by Christian Hackenberg and the idea practice was almost over.
In his after-practice routine Julius stood out, even though at a hefty 261 pounds he’s pretty noticeable anyway.
Instead of a snapper or holder, he was using one of those spider-like stand-alone kicking tees.
Instead of a manager or a teammate or a GA snagging and returning the balls, Julius did the retrieving himself.
His routine had the somewhat sad look of clean-up-the-dog-poop-in-the-backyard penance to it. He methodically booted a few balls, walked to just past the goal posts, grabbed a ball and punted back. Then he slowly jogged back to the tee. Again. Again. And again.
It was his decision. And really, he had no other choice. Penn State needs Joey Julius – or Tyler Davis or them both, perhaps one long and one short – to be at least decent in 2015. The rest of the team is better and in some cases much better, save for left offensive tackle and middle linebacker. Neither position directly scores points.
COUNTING TO THREE
Field goals count in close games. Franklin knows that, having seen it firsthand in admittedly very tough situations at Vandy and Penn State. In games decided by seven or fewer points in his four years as a head coach, Franklin is 10-11. That’s 1-5 in 2011, 3-1 in 2013, 3-1 in 2013 and 3-4 in 2014.
A decent field goal kicker will help the Penn State offense in 2015, even if he doesn’t score points. In Franklin’s four years as a head coach, his teams have attempted 86 field goals and made 69 (a sterling 80.2%). Thirty-one of those have been between the 30- and 39-yard lines (24 made), and 23 were attempted from between the 40 and 49 (15 made). Thus, a big chunk of Franklin’s scoring over the past four years have come in that territory.
Here’s where Julius and Davis come in. Or, maybe, not come in.
That’s the vexing question for Hackenberg, who might press knowing he has to get far into the red zone just for a chance at three or a TD because they can’t make a three; for John Donovan, who may need to gamble more than he should, despite a Stout and Stoopian defense; and for Franklin, who said last year he likes to go by the book but may be forced to go for it on fourth more than the percentages allow.
In addition, missed field goals – which were a rarity by Ficken last year – could dampen the enthusiasm and momentum of a team that is poised to have both in spades, at least early in the season. Julius’ two misses were a wet blanket on Wednesday.
Not saying that Julius is going to miss in a game, if given the chance.
On the other hand, he and/or Davis may not get as many chances as Franklin’s four-year average of 1.65 field goal attempts per game calls for. Either way, they won’t be Ficken or Spears.
But on Wednesday, after failing twice in pressure situations in practice, Julius was still trying to put his best foot forward.
Again and again and again.
