Don’t Call It a Comeback (or Maybe Do): Jake Pinegar Eyes One Final Year as Penn State’s Starting Kicker

If you’re Jake Pinegar, there’s a lot to unpack.

On the one hand you came to Penn State a highly touted kicking prospect looking to follow in the footsteps of Sam Ficken, hoping to pair with punter Blake Gillikin as a formidable 1-2 punch on special teams.

And for a while it works out, for three years to be exact. But then, for a lot of reasons, you end up losing the job to Jordan Stout. And that same Jordan Stout ends up being one of the best kicking specialists in the nation.

So you can’t exactly say you got worse, but could you have been better? Could you have been healthier or taken things more seriously? It’s fair to wonder, to ask yourself where it went wrong, or maybe where it could have gone better. Whatever the case might be, you’re certainly doing a lot of thinking about it.

“You know, the last year especially it’s been a big learning experience,” Pinegar said during Penn State football’s media day on Saturday. “A lot of guys come in to college and they redshirt. They have a career plan for a couple of years. And mine was the opposite. I came in here and I played my first three years and started and you know, some unfortunate circumstances happened and I lost my job and redshirt my senior year, which doesn’t happen a lot. But regardless of that, you know, it taught me a lot about myself.”

Of course even Pinegar gets it. Jordan Stout was exceptionally talented and Pinegar suffered an injury — a fact coach James Franklin would eventually reveal —which only hindered Pinegar’s chances of winning that competition. By the time it was all said and done Pinegar was healthy, but Stout was already the guy.

It’s no fun, but it’s an easier pill to swallow.

“I mean, if I’m out there and I lose my job to somebody that I know I’m better than, that hurts. That stinks,” Pinegar said. “But if you go out there and lose your job to someone who is one of the first picks in the draft for a specialist (Stout went in the fourth round of the NFL draft to the Baltimore Ravens), it is what it is. I’m not gonna sit there and you know, make excuses, but like I said, it taught me a lot. I think I came out better after it, more prepared than I have been in the past, taking things a lot more serious.”

It’s worth noting that while Pinegar certainly earned the job in the opening three years of his career, he certainly had room for growth too, going 1-for-3 in 2021 with field goal attempts over 40 yards after starting out his career in 2018 going 5-for-11 from that distance. He’s also never made a field goal from beyond 50 yards, having only attempted one. It’s only so fair to hold somebody to account for field goal attempts that happened five years ago, but Pinegar’s numbers are his numbers.

And maybe in some not-so-small way Pinegar knows this, because there is a small chip on his shoulder to finish off a long career and remind everyone that not too long ago he was the guy and that he can still be that guy. Sure, maybe Jordan Stout came in and was the wonder boy, but don’t forget about Pinegar either, a former track star from Iowa who could offer Penn State security in the kicking game too.

A redemption arc in the making?

“‘I would say so,” Pinegar said in agreement. “I’ve played here three years. I’ve done a lot of things, but you know, I want to come back in the right way and put that stamp on it. So, that’s kind of been the whole focus to this offseason. It’s just to prove [myself] being the best I can be and the [rest] can take care of itself.”