UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State punter Blake Gillikin was selected as the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week after helping the Nittany Lions dominate the field position battle in the win at No. 17/18 Iowa on Saturday, the school announced.
Gillikin, a senior, is the first Nittany Lion specialist to win the honor since Saquon Barkley against Ohio State in 2017, and is the first Penn State punter to be a weekly award winner since Jeremy Boone in 2009 against Illinois.
The Smyrna, Georgia native played a huge role in helping the Nittany Lions dominate the field position battle, holding the Hawkeyes to a starting field position of their own 18, while Penn State’s average was its own 34. Gillikin booted seven punts for an average of 42.1 yards per punt. He downed five of his seven punts inside the Iowa 20 and tied a career high with three punts pinned inside the 10. Gillikin boomed a long punt of 62 yards for his 47th career punt of more than 50 yards and seventh of 60 or more yards.
No. 7 Penn State hosts No. 16 Michigan in the annual Penn State White Out Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. on ABC.
