Penn State football punter Blake Gillikin earned another preseason accolade when he was named to the Ray Guy award watch list as one of the nation’s best at his position.

Gillikin was one of three Nittany Lion veterans to represent the team at Big Ten media days last week, and he was also named an Allstate AFCA Good Works Team Nominee for his work in the community.

Penn State’s fourth-year punter is undoubtedly one of the best punters in the nation. Gillikin’s career average of 43.32 yards per punt is the best in program history, and he finished the 2018 season with a single-season Penn State record of 43.95 yards per punt. The senior sent quite a few balls into the stratosphere in 2018 — including a 74-yarder against Michigan, a 71-yard boot in the Citrus Bowl against Kentucky, and punts of 70 and 67 yards against Rutgers.

Gillikin can clearly boom the ball far if needed, but he also had enough touch to pin opposing offenses inside the 20-yard line 19 times last year. As a first team academic All-American with a perfect 4.0 GPA throughout his college career, Gillikin definitely puts the “student” in “student-athlete.”

KJ Hamler, Yetur Gross-Matos, Pat Freiermuth, Micah Parsons, and Robert Windsor are among the other Nittany Lions who have appeared on preseason watch lists ahead of their season opener against Idaho on August 31.