UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Senior punter Blake Gillikin (Smyrna, Ga.) is among the six finalists for Pop Warner's 10th Annual National College Football Award. The award, established in 2010, recognizes a graduating senior who has made a real impact on the field, in the classroom and in his community.
The award will be presented to the winner during the 63rd annual Pop Warner Super Bowl at Walt Disney World's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, FL. C.J. Conrad, former University of Kentucky tight end, took home last year's award.
Gillkin owns a perfect 4.0 grade-point average as a kinesiology major. He was the first punter in program history and 34th student-athlete overall (44th selection) to claim first-team Academic All-America honors last year. He is a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District choice. He is a two-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and three-time Academic Big Ten selection. He 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. He also earned the President's Freshman Award, which recognizes Penn State students for academic excellence.
A two-time team captain, Gillikin is tied for No. 1 on Penn State's career punting chart (43.13 ypp) and set the program record with a 44.0 punting average in 2018. He has 48 career punts downed inside the opponent's 10-yard line and is the only player in program history with six punts of 65 yards or more. This season, Gillkin averages 42.39 punts per game with 24 punts inside the opponents' 20 and nine punts of 50 or more yards.
Gillikin won two Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors this season, after the Michigan State and Iowa games. He was named to the Ray Guy Ray's 8 Team following his performances at Iowa and against Pittsburgh. In addition, he was a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy and the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award. He was also a candidate for the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, Senior CLASS Award and Wuerffel Trophy.
The Nittany Lions visit No. 2 Ohio State at noon on FOX.
Single-game tickets are available for the 2019 Penn State Football season presented by PSECU. 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.
