When Penn State’s senior kicker, Sam Ficken, reported to Yankee Stadium for a walk-through on Friday, he was greeted with a surprise. Members of the Nittany Lions’ equipment staff set him up to use Derek Jeter’s old locker stall. They did the same before Saturday’s Pinstripe Bowl against Boston College, and Ficken lived up to Jeter’s legacy.
His extra point in overtime, after the sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg had completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Carter on third down, gave Penn State a 31-30 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 49,012, the largest attendance in the five-year history of the Pinstripe Bowl. Earlier, Ficken’s 45-yard field goal with 20 seconds left tied the score at 24-24 and sent the game into the extra session.
It was the first time in Ficken’s career that he ended a game with an extra point, although he made a 36-yard field goal with three seconds remaining in Penn State’s season-opening 26-24 victory over Central Florida in Dublin.
Growing up in Valparaiso, Ind., about an hour from Chicago, Ficken rooted for the Cubs, but he also had an appreciation for Jeter. He said he had taken several photographs in front of Jeter’s locker this weekend. Several of Ficken’s teammates brought up Jeter’s winning hit in September in his final regular-season game at Yankee Stadium.
“They were like, ‘Dude, the stars aligned,’ ” Ficken said. “It’s something that’s coincidental, but it’s a very cool story line, and I couldn’t be more thankful for that.”
Entering the season, Penn State was not supposed to be able to play in the postseason because of sanctions imposed on the program over the child sexual abuse scandal involving Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant coach. But in September, the N.C.A.A. announced that the Nittany Lions could participate in a bowl game this year if they qualified, after a recommendation from former Senator George J. Mitchell, whom the N.C.A.A. appointed in 2012 to monitor the program.
Under its first-year coach, James Franklin, Penn State won its first four games before losing six of eight and finishing sixth in the seven-team Big Ten East Division with a 2-6 conference record. Saturday’s victory was an encouraging sign for a program that is trying to rebuild itself.
“We’ve been fractured in the last probably three years, but I think experiences and games like this has restored the hope,” Franklin said. “Everybody has a part in that. I believe when Penn State is together, and we’re all pulling the rope in the same direction and doing what’s best for the students and doing what’s best for the players and doing what’s best for the community as a whole, then the sky is very high at Penn State.”
On Saturday, the Nittany Lions overcame a 21-7 deficit before Boston College took a 24-21 lead on the freshman Mike Knoll’s 20-yard field goal with 2 minutes 10 seconds remaining in regulation. Penn State got the ball back at its 24-yard line and drove 49 yards in eight plays, culminating in Ficken’s tying field goal.
Boston College went ahead, 30-24, on the first possession of overtime when the senior quarterback Tyler Murphy threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to David Dudeck on third-and-6, Dudeck’s first touchdown this season. But Knoll’s extra-point attempt went wide right. It was the Eagles’ eighth missed extra-point attempt this season. They converted only 12 of 19 field-goal tries this season. The kicking game hurt them in narrow losses to Florida State, Clemson and Colorado State.
“We have some issues we have to get fixed in the kicking game; that goes without saying,” said Boston College Coach Steve Addazio, who is 13-12 in two years with the Eagles and received a contract extension through the 2020 season this month after his name had been linked to vacancies at Michigan and Florida. “But that’s been something that’s been there all year long.”
Boston College rushed for 285 yards on 46 carries, the most yards Penn State allowed all season. The Nittany Lions entered Saturday with the nation’s best rushing defense, having allowed 84.8 yards per game. Running back Jon Hilliman led Boston College with 148 yards, including 96 in the first quarter. Murphy added 105 yards rushing and completed 11 of 19 passes for 97 yards.
Still, Penn State came back thanks to Hackenberg, who completed 34 of 50 passes for 371 yards and four touchdowns, two of them in the second half. Hackenberg, a highly regarded recruit who started as a true freshman last fall, struggled during the regular season, throwing for eight touchdowns with 15 interceptions.
Penn State improved to 7-6 while Boston College fell to 7-6, losing its fifth consecutive bowl game.
After Hackenberg’s touchdown pass in overtime, it was Ficken’s turn to play the hero and continue a memorable few days. Ficken, a finance major, rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. Last summer, he interned at Merrill Lynch. He said that he had enjoyed working at the bank but that he was hoping not to have to return to Wall Street anytime soon.
“I hope to kick a ball for a long time,” Ficken said. “But if that doesn’t work out, I’ll probably be right down the road.”
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