James Franklin supports Sander Sahaydak despite kicking woes

If you watched the game on Saturday night between Penn State football and Illinois you noticed the issues on special teams. Specifically, at placekicker, the Nittany Lions have yet to find the person they are confident in. Sander Sahaydak won the job coming out of fall camp, but he has been inconsistent over his Nittany Lion career. Following the Illinois win, James Franklin provided some comfort towards Sahaydak and his role moving forward.

It was the elephant in the room following the Penn State football victory. Someone was bound to ask James Franklin about his kicking situation and what would happen moving forward. However, Franklin responded with respect and class for Sander Sahaydak.

“I love Sander Sahaydak,” Franklin said. “He’s been awesome for us here. And we just won a game and he should be celebrating this win like everybody else. But ultimately we will have a competition. All of these things will factor in and there are some decisions we will have to make moving forward.

“But I want Sander to celebrate this win like everyone else. He’s put a ton into this. He’s a great kid and he’s a great representative of everything that we are about. And I love that we played complimentary football and the offense and defense had Sander’s back. That’s going to happen from time to time.”

Who is Ryan Barker?

Mandatory Credit: Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports

The person who stepped in for Sander Sahaydak after the missed field goal attempts was Ryan Barker who is the No. 2 kicker on the roster. Barker is a redshirt freshman from Landenberg (Pennsylvania). As a member of the 2023 recruiting class, Barker did not appear in any games last season.

Sander Sahaydak has attempted 9 field goals over the past three years and he has only connected on three of them. His career FG percentage sits at 33%. As Franklin said, there will be a competition. We also cannot forget about Chase Myer who transferred to Penn State from Tulsa this offseason, the Nittany Lions have three options to choose from. They just need to make sure this next choice is the right one.

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