Coach Joe Paterno and his staff made a somewhat surprising decision when they installed Evan Lewis as the Penn State's starting kicker to open the season against Indiana State on Saturday. Many expected that either Anthony Fera or highly touted freshman Sam Ficken would get the call, but with Fera suspended to start the season, Paterno made the decision to go with the ex-receiver, and the results weren't what he was hoping for.
Though he notched a touchback on his first kickoff, Lewis missed both of his field goal attempts, a 38-yarder in the first quarter and a 47-yarder in the third quarter. Later, he missed an extra point, and Ficken was inserted into the game at that point.
After the game, Joe Paterno offered his assessment of the kicking situation.
"I thought the place kicking wasn't good," Paterno said. "[Lewis] missed a couple of field goals. It makes you wonder a little bit. It's been very close between both of them, Ficken and Lewis so I told Mike [McQuerey] after Lewis had missed a couple 'Let's see what Ficken can do."
He then added he expects Anthony Fera will return either this week or next week, so stay tuned. We may have a better idea of how the kicking situation will play out for the season by Paterno's weekly press conference on Tuesday.