UNIVERSITY PARK – Sam Ficken settled onto a blue couch in the Nittany Lions’ players’ lounge at the Lasch Building earlier this week and couldn’t help but shake his head when it was suggested that he’s been in more do-or-die situations than any kicker in Penn State history.

“Obviously,” he said with a smile, “I’ve seen the entire college football experience.”

And then some.

Like all the upperclassmen, he endured the trauma of November 2011, and adjusted to three different coaching regimes. Unlike all the upperclassmen, when the game boiled down to the final play, he was responsible for losing (Virginia 2012) and winning UCF (this year, 36-yarder as time expired).

For his career, he made 52-of-72 field goals with eight of those misses via blocks, including his only four misses this year of 26 tries.

The torture of the NCAA sanctions has meant much less separation than the Nittany Nation is accustomed, and no one has felt that more than Ficken. In the last three years, no fewer than 15 games have been decided by a touchdown or less with five going to overtime.

Seven of those games were this year.

“There have only been only two games in the fourth quarter (UMass, Akron), where I could say, ‘Hey, ‘we got this one,”’ he said.

But Ficken has embraced the situation, and, for his success on the field and his leadership (Academic All-American) off it, he was made a team captain by James Franklin, who said Ficken was the team’s most consistent player after the preseason.

It’s a challenge Ficken welcomed.

“We have a very small window right now, and I understand that, and it’s something I can kind of endorse,” he said. “It makes my job more important to the team.”

Ficken entered the summer of 2012 thinking he would be Anthony Fera’s backup, but when Fera bolted for Texas a month before the opener, Ficken was thrust into a role for which he admittedly wasn’t totally prepared.

“Fera had made 10 in a row (in 2011), and I thought I’d have time to develop some strength and focused on that more than I should have,” Ficken said. “Had I known the entire offseason that I would have been the starting guy, I would have prepared differently.”

And we know the result: Charlottesville, when Ficken missed four, including the game-winner, plus an extra point. Many athletes without high character would have crumbled amid the onslaught of the worst of what social media can bring, especially on a college campus.

Ficken, though, stayed on an even keel.

“I’m not the kind of person to bow down to a (negative) situation,” he said.

Through the help of a support system that included parents who never missed a game despite living in Valparaiso, Ind., he regrouped and ended the 2012 season by making 10 straight.

Ficken benefited from the encouragement and tutelage from Robbie Gould, a former PSU kicker currently in the midst of a great career with the Chicago Bears. The Sunday afternoon following the Virginia debacle, Gould called Ficken and asked him, “What are you doing later tonight?”

Through Skype and film exchange, the two went over Ficken’s kicks frame by frame and continued that process, Ficken said, “for five-week weeks, three days a week, two hours a day.”

Mainly, they focused on Ficken’s stride, cutting it from two-and-a-half steps to two but retaining his power, and slowing down the process from 1.2 seconds to closer to 1.5.

The two text weekly, before and after games, and turned an amazing mentor-student relationship – the ultimate in giving back due to Gould’s generosity – into what is now a friendship. Interestingly, a tribute to technology, they have only been face-to-face twice.

“Getting to work with Robbie Gould and continue that through my career has helped me immeasurably,” Ficken said. “It’s progressed from him telling me what I need to change into a really cool friendship that I’m really grateful for.”

And in a way, Ficken is also grateful for the Virginia game because, “If I hadn’t struggled so badly, I don’t know that he (Gould) would have reached out.”

Contacted for an interview about Ficken, Gould called back but politely declined, saying he believes all the credit should go to Ficken.

“He’s worked his butt off,” Gould said, “and I’m really proud of him.”

So, too, are the best of his senior teammates who will make their final run through the Beaver Stadium tunnel today before the Nittany Lions close their regular season against Michigan State.

“Every single day, he approached his job as he’s the guy who has to make the big kick,” said linebacker Mike Hull, who along with Ficken will draw the biggest ovation of the seniors’ introductions. “He wants to be the best. I respect him for his approach, hard work and mental attitude.”

As the clock is about to strike midnight on his career, Ficken values his struggles, and he believes they have better trained him for a possible NFL shot.

“It’s been a roller coaster with a lot of ups and downs,” he said, “but I’ve learned a ton about myself and my teammates, and the bonds and relationships that have been built I wouldn’t trade for the world.

“A kicker that has been through the fryer … A lot of kickers have not experienced failure at the level I have and to be able to say I came out of it, kept my head and worked hard and success came, I think that’s an attribute that will put value to myself.”

Ask Ficken his favorite kick, and most would figure UCF in a no-brainer. Nope.

“Probably the Wisconsin one my sophomore year (37-yarder in overtime) because of the way I started the season. To do that on senior day it wasn’t a walk-off win, but it got us the win,” he said. “That senior class did so much for the team and the program and to send them out on a positive note meant more because I had let them down earlier in the year.”

He paused and smirked.

“But UCF was definitely close.”

Rudel can be reached at 946-7527 or nrudel@altoonamirror.com.

Kickin’ Ficken

Highlights of Sam Ficken’s career: Ranks third in FBS in field goals made this year (22 or 2.0 per game). Has made 22 of 26 FGs – the only misses have been four blocks – and all 23 extra points. First PSU kicker in 32 years to make three FGs of 45 or longer in a game (vs. Maryland). His 54-yarder vs. Kent State in 2013 is the second-longest in school history behind Chris Bahr (who hit from 55 three times). Made 15 straight in 2012-13. Career FG total of 52 second in PSU history behind Kevin Kelly (78). Total of 22 this season tied for single-season high in school history behind Kelly and Matt Bahr. 36-yarder as time expired won UCF game to start season. Semifinalist for Lou Groza Award.

Where he ranks

Following are the Nittany Lions’ career leaders in field-goal percentage, charting kickers with at least 35 FGs:

Kicker, YearsTotalsPct.

Nick Gancitano, 1981-8438-4977.6

Collin Wagner, 2007-1036-4875.0

Travis Forney, 1996-9947-6374.6

Kevin Kelly, 2005-0878-10772.9

Sam Ficken, 2011-1452-7272.2