[mm-video type=video id=01fmnp557tza2asnech9 playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fmnp557tza2asnech9/01fmnp557tza2asnech9-b4ddd582915394151aaadc61bacaf46b.jpg]
It is Penn State week for Rutgers football, with the Scarlet Knights looking to get a sixth win against a Big Ten program that might be considered their rival.
And for Penn State head coach James Franklin, there is one player on Rutgers who is really standing out. One player who Franklin thinks is the nation’s best.
Punter Adam Korsak.
“Their punter is maybe the best punter in the country. Best punter in the conference,” Franklin said about Korsak on Tuesday during his weekly press conference.
“He is a senior from Australia, averaging over 46 yards. He does a really good job of using a wide variety, like a lot of the Australian kids do, a wide variety of kicks. Whether it’s [a] traditional punt, whether they’re trying to pin somebody down with a sky punt. Whether he’s doing a low roller. Does a lot of different things…cross-field kicks. We’ll have to be prepared for that as well.”
Korsak was recently named a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award, given to the nation’s top punter. On his 56 punts this year, he is averaging a strong 46.3 yards per punt.
But as Franklin noted, perhaps most impressive is his accuracy and placement.
In his last five games, Korsak has punted 36 times with 20 of those kicks inside the 20-yard line. He has not had a touchback since the last game of the 2019 season which was at Penn State.
Penn State (6-4, 3-4 Big Ten) comes into this game looking to right their season after a disappointing 21-17 home loss to Michigan this past weekend. The Nittany Lions are a solid team but have come up short in the second half of the season against several ranked opponents in Big Ten play.
As for Rutgers (5-5, 2-5 Big Ten), they have won two of their last three games, with both wins coming on the road. Since joining the Big Ten in 2014, Rutgers has never beaten Penn State.