CAREER NOTES & RECORDS
Awards: Became the 12th Penn State player to be a two-time first-team Academic All-American.
Career: Tied No. 2 on Penn State’s career punting average charts (43.03 ypp)...Landed 53 career punts downed inside the opponent’s 10-yard line (seven in 2016, 18 in 2017, 12 in 2018, 15 in 2019)...Is the only player in program history with seven punts of 65 or more yards...Is the only player in PSU history with four 70-plus yard punts in a season or career...Became the second Nittany Lion to reach the 10,000-career punt yard mark, joining Jeremy Kapinos (10,476; 2003-06).
Season: 2019: Ranks No. 14 at Penn State with a 42.2 punting average. 2018: Set a program record with a 44.0 punting average. 2017: Ranks No. 5 in program history with a 43.2 punting average. 2016: Broke the Penn State freshman season punting average record with 42.8 yards per punt, surpassing the record set by Jeremy Kapinos in 2003 (41.9)...Ranks No. 9 on Penn State’s single-season punting average chart with a 42.8 average.
Game: Hit a 72-yard punt against Rutgers (11/30/19), the seventh-longest punt in program history...Averaged 49.2 yards per punt against Rutgers (11/30/19), Penn State's 11th-highest game punt average...Averaged 51.2 yards per punt in the Citrus Bowl against Kentucky (1/1/19), Penn State's fifth-highest game punting average...Hit a 71-yard punt against Kentucky (1/1/19), which is tied for the eighth-longest punt in program history with Joe Colone at Syracuse in 1946 and John Bruno Jr. vs. Boston College in 1985...Hit a 70-yard punt at Rutgers (11/17/18), the 11th-longest in program history...His 48.7 punt average at Rutgers is tied with Jeremy Kapinos (vs. Boston College, 2003) for the 11th-best in program history...Hit a career-long punt of 74 yards against Michigan (11/3/18), which is tied with Anthony Fera (2010 vs. Iowa) for the fourth-longest punt in program history...Set the Penn State freshman record for punting average in a game with five kicks for an average of 50.8 yards in the Rose Bowl against USC (1/2/17).
Bowl: Averaged 51.2 yards per punt in the Citrus Bowl vs. Kentucky (1/1/19), which ranks second in Penn State bowl history behind Jeremy Boone's 51.4 average in the 2007 Alamo Bowl...Hit a 71-yard punt in the Citrus Bowl, the longest punt in the program's bowl history, breaking the record of 68 yards by Bob Campbell in the 1967 Gator Bowl...Set the Penn State freshman record for punting average in a game with five kicks for an average of 50.8 yards in the Rose Bowl against USC (1/2/17).
2019 • SENIOR SEASON
Awards: Named CoSIDA Academic All-America first team for the second-straight year...Selected All-Big Ten honorable mention by the coaches and media...Earned the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award...Tabbed Pro Football Focus All-Big Ten honorable mention...Selected Academic All-Big Ten...Earned the Captain's Award at the team's awards banquet...Earned the Letterman's Club Scholarship Award...Claimed the Nittany Lion Club Academic Achievement Award, along with Dan Chisena, for having the highest senior GPA...Earned the team's Highest Academic Average (cumulative GPA), along with Will Levis...Won the team's Public Service Award, along with Trent Gordon...Named a Pop Warner Award finalist...Selected CoSIDA Academic All-District...Named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week following the Michigan State game (10/26)...Named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week following the Iowa game (10/12)...Tabbed for the Ray Guy Award Ray's 8 Team following his performance at Iowa (10/12)...Selected for the Ray Guy Award Ray's 8 Team following his performance vs. Pittsburgh (9/14)...Named to the preseason Ray Guy Award watch list...Was a nominee for the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team...Selected as a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy...Named a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award...Was a nominee for the Wuerffel Trophy...Tabbed as a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award.
Season: Appeared in 13 games...Selected as a team captain.
Idaho (8/31): Hit a 32-yard punt, which was fair caught at the Idaho 15. Buffalo (9/7): Averaged 41.2 yards per punt, including a 51-yard punt in the first quarter...Landed two punts inside the 20, including one at the Buffalo 4. Pittsburgh (9/14): Averaged 42.4 yards on seven punts...Landed a career-high six punts inside the 20 and one inside the 10...Hit a 53-yard punt in the second quarter. at Maryland (9/27): Had three punts, averaging 41.0 yards per punt...Hit a 52-yard punt. Purdue (10/5): Averaged 39.2 yards on five punts...Hit a 51-yard punt...Landed one punt at the Purdue 4. at Iowa (10/12): Averaged 42.1 yards per punt on seven punts...Hit a 62-yard punt in the third quarter...Landed five punts inside the 20...Tied a career high with three punts inside the 10...Named the coaching staff's Special Teams Player of the Week. Michigan (10/19): Averaged 44.0 yards on eight punts...Landed four punts inside the 20, including two inside the 10...Hit a 60-yard punt in the third quarter. at Michigan State (10/26): Averaged 44.2 yards per punt on a career-high-tying eight punts...Landed five punts inside the 20, including three inside the 10...Hit a 58-yard punt in the first quarter...Selected as the coaching staff's Special Teams Player of the Week. at Minnesota (11/9): Averaged a season-high 47.5 yards on two punts...Hit a 51-yard punt in the third quarter. Indiana (11/16): Averaged 42.7 yards per punt on three punts...Landed two punts inside the Indiana 10...Hit a 51-yard punt in the first quarter. at Ohio State (11/23): Averaged 34 yards per punt on six punts...Landed two punts inside the Ohio State 10. Rutgers (11/30): Averaged a season-high 49.2 yards per punt on four punts, Penn State's 11th-highest game punt average...Hit a 72-yard punt, the seventh-longest punt in program history...Dropped two punts inside the 20, including one inside the 10...Named the coaching staff's Special Teams Player of the Week. vs. Memphis (12/28): Averaged 45.3 yards per punt on three punts...Hit a 59-yard punt in the first quarter, landing it at the Memphis 13...Landed another punt at the Memphis 15.
2018 • JUNIOR SEASON
Awards: Earned AP-All Bowl Team honors...Named to the Google Cloud/CoSIDA Academic All-America Division I first team...Is the 34th player (44th selection), and first punter, in program history to be a first-team Academic All-American...Selected Google Cloud/CoSIDA Academic All-District...Selected Big Ten Distinguished Scholar...Named Academic All-Big Ten...Posted a 4.0 GPA in both semesters...Earned the Captain’s Award and the Highest Academic Achievement at the team’s awards banquet...Was among the candidates on the preseason watch list for the Ray Guy Award, given to the nation’s top punter.
Season: Appeared in 13 games.
Rankings: Owned the No. 2 punt average (44.0) in the Big Ten and ranked No. 22 in the country.
Appalachian State (9/1): Hit five punts for 215 yards, averaging 43.0 yards per kick...Had three punts fair caught and one downed. at Pittsburgh (9/8): Averaged 42.6 yards per punt on five kicks...Placed four inside the 20, including three inside the 10...Hit two punts of more than 50 yards...Forced one fair catch and three dropped punts...Named the coaching staff’s Special Teams Player of the Week. Kent State (9/15): Averaged 48.5 yards per punt on two kicks, including a 58-yard punt. Ohio State (9/29): Had eight punts for 312 yards, with a long of 53 yards...Landed three punts inside the 20. Michigan State (10/13): Matched a career high with eight punts for 364 yards...Averaged 45.5 yards per punt with a long of 52 yards. at Indiana (10/20): Averaged 40.2 yards on six punts, including a long of 53...Landed two punts inside the Indiana 10. Iowa (10/27): Averaged 41.8 yards on five punts, including a long of 54 yards. at Michigan (11/3): Set a career high with 370 punt yards while matching a career high with eight punts...Averaged 46.2 yards per punt with a career-long punt of 74 yards, which is tied with Anthony Fera (2010 vs. Iowa) for the fourth-longest punt in program history...Landed one punt at the Michigan 5...Made one tackle on a punt return. Wisconsin (11/10): Averaged 38.0 yards on three punts with a long of 44 yards...Landed one punt at the Wisconsin 6. at Rutgers (11/17): Had six punts for 292 yards, averaging 48.7 yards per punt, which is tied 11th in PSU history with Jeremy Kapinos (vs. Boston College, 2013)...Hit punts of 67 and 70 yards...The 70-yard punt is tied for the 10th-longest in program history and the 67-yard punt is tied for 20th...Dropped one punt inside the 10 and three inside the 20... Named the coaching staff’s Special Teams Player of the Week. Maryland (11/24): Averaged 39.7 yards on three punts...Landed one punt inside the 20. vs. Kentucky (1/1): Averaged 51.2 yards on five punts, the fifth-best game punt average in Penn State history and the second-best in PSU bowl history...Hit a 71-yard punt in the first quarter, the longest punt in PSU bowl history and the seventh-longest in any game...Landed two punts inside the 20 and one inside the 10.
2017 • SOPHOMORE SEASON
Awards: Named honorable-mention All-America punter by GPR Punt Rating...Earned second-team All-Big Ten honors from both the coaches and media panels...Selected second-team All-Big Ten by the Associated Press...Garnered third-team All-Big Ten from Phil Steele...Earned CoSIDA Academic All-District...Named to the Ray Guy Award preseason watch list...Earned the John Bruno Memorial Award, awarded to the outstanding member of the special teams by the coaches, and the Highest Academic Average Award at the annual team banquet...Named Academic All-Big Ten...Selected as a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar...Posted a 4.0 GPA in both semesters...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.
Season: Started all 13 games at punter.
Rankings: Finished No. 35 in the FBS and No. 3 in the B1G in punting average (43.2)...Ranked No. 4 in coffin wedge average (89.84) according to GPR Punt Rating.
Akron (9/2): Punted twice in the fourth quarter for an average of 50.0 yards per punt. Pittsburgh (9/9): Hit six punts for an average of 43.2 yards...Pinned Pittsburgh inside its own 20-yard line on four occasions, a career high...A career-high three punts finished inside the Panthers’ 10-yard line. Georgia State (9/16): Booted three punts for a 45.3-yard average and landed two punts inside the GSU 20..Placed one punt at the Panthers’ 10-yard line...Named Co-Special Teams Player of the Week by the coaching staff, along with Tyler Davis. at Iowa (9/23): Hit four punts for an average of 39.8 yards...Placed a career-high-tying three punts inside the Iowa 10-yard line...Garnered the coaching staff’s Special Teams Player of the Week award. Indiana (9/30): Hit six punts for an average of 46.5 yards per punt...Placed four punts inside the Indiana 20-yard line, including two inside the IU 10-yard line...Hit a pair of 50-plus yard punts in the game. at Northwestern (10/7): Averaged 43.0 yards per punt on five boots...Placed a career-high-tying three punts inside the NU 10-yard line...Had one touchback and two punts fair caught...Named the coaching staff’s Special Team’s Player of the Week. Michigan (10/21): Hit two punts for an average of 49.5 yards...Had a long punt of 56 yards...Named Co-Special Teams Player of the Week by the coaching staff, along with Tyler Davis. at Ohio State (10/28): Averaged 42.6 yards per punt on five punts...Hit a 57-yarder in the fourth quarter. at Michigan State (11/4): Hit four punts for a 39.0 average...Had two punts land inside the MSU 20-yard line, including one inside the 10. Rutgers (11/11): Averaged 40.6 yards on six punts...Had three of his punts downed inside the Rutgers 10...Named Co-Special Teams Player of the Week by the coaching staff, along with Lamont Wade. Nebraska (11/18): Hit four punts for a 39.5-yard average...Placed two punts inside the Nebraska 10. at Maryland (11/25): Booted four punts for a 45.2-yard average...Had one punt downed inside the Maryland 20-yard line. vs. Washington (12/30): Punted twice for an average of 43.0 yards...Neither punt was returned by Washington’s Dante Pettis, who's the NCAA’s career punt return touchdown record holder...Had one punt downed inside the Husky 10.
2016 • TRUE FRESHMAN SEASON
Awards: Selected to the ESPN.comTrue Freshman All-America Team...Named Campus Insiders Freshman All-America honorable mention...Named to the ESPN.comBig Ten All-Bowl Team...Earned All-Big Ten honorable mention from the conference coaches and media panel...Named to the BTN.com and ESPN.com All-Big Ten Freshman Team...Was a candidate for the Ray Guy Award, given to the nation’s top collegiate punter...Earned The President’s Freshman Award, which recognizes Penn State students for academic excellence...Had perfect 4.0 grade-point averages in both the fall and spring semesters.
Season: Started all 14 games at punter...Became just the third true freshman to start at punter since 1946 (1979, Ralph Giacomarro; 2014, Daniel Pasquariello)...One of 18 first-time starters in 2016...One of 27 freshmen (22 redshirt, 5 true) to appear in 2016...Had seven kicks downed inside the opponent’s 10-yard line.
Rankings: No. 30 in the NCAA and No. 3 in the Big Ten in punting average (42.8 ypp).
Kent State (9/3): Hit six punts for 282 yards...Averaged 47.0 yards per punt, which is the sixth-best performance by a freshman in Penn State history...Booted a long punt of 58 yards...Pinned two punts inside the 20...Was the coaching staff’s Special Teams Player of the Week. at Pittsburgh (9/10): Punted five times – four in the first half – for 233 yards...Averaged 46.6 yards per punt...His 69-yard punt in the fourth quarter was a career long and Penn State’s longest punt since Anthony Fera had a 69-yard punt (vs. Purdue, 2011)...The 69-yard punt is the second-longest punt by a freshman in Penn State history behind Fera’s 74-yarder (2010)...Pinned the Panthers inside their own 20-yard line on three occasions, including two inside the 10...Pinned Pittsburgh at its own 1-yard line with his first punt of the game. Temple (9/17): Hit three punts, including just one in the second half, averaging 35.0 yards per punt...Pinned Temple at its own 1-yard line on his first punt...Had two punts downed inside the Temple 20. at Michigan (9/24): Punted six times for an average of 45.0 yards...Pinned Michigan inside its own 10-yard line on a third quarter punt. Minnesota (10/1): Punted six times for an average of 39.2 yards...Dropped one punt inside the Minnesota 20. Maryland (10/8): Hit three punts for an average of 34.0 yards...Downed two punts inside the Maryland 20...Pinned Maryland at its own 7-yard line on his second punt of the afternoon...Had a punt blocked in the second quarter...Did not handle punting duties in the second half. Ohio State (10/22): Hit seven punts for 264 yards...Pinned three punts inside the OSU 20, including his sixth punt inside an opponent’s 10-yard line in the first quarter...Four punts were fair caught by the Buckeyes. at Purdue (10/29): Punted three times for an average of 41.3 yards...Had one punt of 50-plus yards. Iowa (11/5): Averaged 40.5 yards on two punts...Had two punts inside the Iowa 20-yard line...One punt was downed at the Iowa 11-yard line and one was fair caught at the 14-yard line. at Indiana (11/12): Booted six punts for an average of 38.8 yards...Had three kicks end in fair catches...Hit a long punt of 50 yards. at Rutgers (11/19): Hit three punts for an average of 47.7 yards...Knocked one punt inside the RU 20-yard line...Had one punt of 50 yards...One punt was fair caught. Michigan State (11/26): Averaged 46.8 yards per punt on four kicks...Had two punts downed inside the MSU 20-yard line, including one at the Spartan 2-yard line...Recorded one 50-plus yard punt with a 54-yard effort on his second kick of the game...Was the coaching staff’s Special Teams Player of the Week. vs. Wisconsin (12/3): Hit a pair of punts for an average of 49.0 yards per punt...Had one punt land inside the Wisconsin 20-yard line...Was the coaching staff’s Special Teams Player of the Week. vs. USC (1/2): Averaged 50.8 yards per punt, which is seventh-best in Penn State history...Had a long punt of 65 yards, which ranks No. 3 by a freshman punter in school history...Had one punt downed inside the USC 20-yard line...Made his first career tackle on a first-quarter punt.
HIGH SCHOOL
Three-time letterman for head coach Gerry Romberg at Westminster Schools...Helped Westminster to its first Class AAA Georgia State Championship since 1978 by kicking three field goals, including a 53-yard boot, and had two punts of 60 yards in the air in the final...Set a school record with a 56-yard field goal in a win over Adairsville...Rated as a five-star punter and a five-star kicker by the Kohl’s Professional Camp...Named to the MaxPreps 2015 Medium Schools All-American first team as a punter...Earned first-team all-state honors as a placekicker in 2015...Claimed first-team South Fulton All-Metro and first-team Atlanta All-Metro by the Atlanta Journal Constitution as a senior...Was a first-team All-Region 4-AAA punter and first-team Atlanta All-Metro by the Atlanta Journal Constitution in 2014...Claimed second-team all-state accolades in 2014...Claimed Touchdown Club of Atlanta All-Metro All-Star Team honors as a senior...Invited to the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl...Selected for the Florida-Georgia High School All-Star Game...Had 41 punts with an average of 45.2 yards per punt...Had 19 punts downed inside the 20 as a senior...Was 54-for-54 on extra points in 2015...Has the three longest field goals in Westminster history (56, 53, 52)...Was 16-for-26 on field goals as a senior...Rated a four-star prospect by Scout and a three-star prospect by Rivals, ESPN and 247Sports...Was the third-ranked punter in the country by 247Sports...Ranked as the No. 3 punter in the country and No. 2 punter in the South region by Scout...Rated the No. 8 kicker/punter by ESPN...Was a four-time letterman in soccer and a two-time letterman in basketball at Westminster...Helped the Wildcats to the 2013 Georgia State High School Association Class AA Soccer Championship and a runner-up finish in 2014...Was a member of the National Honor Society...Was an AP Scholar and a member of the Discipline Council...Earned honor roll accolades.
PERSONAL
Full name is Blake Thomas Gillikin...Son of Taryn and Walt Gillikin...Has a twin brother, Tyler...Mother, Taryn, was a swimmer at the University of Kansas...Father, Walt, was a swimmer at the University of North Carolina...Brother, Tyler, is a long snapper at Northwestern...Hobbies include skiing and traveling...Majoring in kinesiology...Born January 21, 1998 in Atlanta, Georgia.