UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Junior punter Blake Gillikin (Smyrna, Ga.) earned a spot on the Google Cloud Academic All-America Division I first team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Gillikin is the 34th different player to collect first team accolades for a total of 44 first-team selections.
Gillikin's Academic All-America honor is the 66th for Nittany Lion football program, which ranks second in Division I football history (FBS and FCS). He is the first Nittany Lion to garner Academic All-America status since long snapper Tyler Yazujian earned honors in 2015 and 2016. Gillikin is the first Penn State punter to be named Academic All-American. Overall, Penn State has 204 Academic All-Americans, which ranks fifth among all schools at all levels and fourth among Division I institutions.
A native of Smyrna, Georgia, Gillikin has a perfect 4.0 grade-point average as a kinesiology major. In addition to his Google Cloud Academic All-America and All-District honors, Gillikin is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten choice and a 2018 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar. He was presented with the President's Freshman Award, given annually to undergraduate degree candidates who have earned a 4.0 cumulative grade-point average based on at least 12 graded Penn State credits completed in their first semester of admission, in May 2017. Gillikin also claimed The Evan Pugh Scholar Award, given to those juniors and seniors who are in the upper 0.5 percent of their respective classes, in May 2018.
On the field, Gillikin ranks second in the Big Ten and 26th nationally in punt average (43.3 ypp). The 43.3 punting average ranks second on Penn State's single-season chart. He also holds the fifth (2017) and ninth positions (2016) on the list. Gillikin hit a career-long punt of 74 yards against Michigan (11/3), which is tied with Anthony Fera (2010 vs. Iowa) for the fourth-longest punt in program history. He also booted a 70-yard punt at Rutgers (11/17), which is the ninth-longest in program history. Gillikin's 48.7 punt average at Rutgers is tied with Jeremy Kapinos (vs. Boston College, 2003) for the 11th-best in single-game program history.
For his career, Gillikin sits tied for No. 2 on Penn State's career punting average charts (43.1 ypp). He has 36 career punts downed inside the opponent's 10-yard line (seven in 2016, 18 in 2017, 11 in 2018). Gillikin is the only player in program history with five punts of 65 or more yards and is just the fourth player in PSU history with two 70-plus yard punts in his career.
The No. 12 Nittany Lions will face No. 14 Kentucky in the VRBO Citrus Bowl in Orlando on Tuesday, Jan. 1 at 1 p.m. The game will air on ABC.
For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club and reserving new 2019 season tickets, as well as club seating in Beaver Stadium, fans can visit www.PSUnrivaled.com, call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. or visit the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office weekdays from 9 a.m-4:30 p.m.
