Fans of a great football team might take special teams for granted, but games like Penn State football’s 28-7 triumph over Michigan State don’t end the way they do without excellent play on special teams.

Any discussion of the Nittany Lions’ special teamers’ effort on Saturday evening should start and end with the punting unit. Blake Gillikin had perhaps his best game of the season by pinning the Spartan offense inside its 20-yard line five times. The gunners tasked with chasing down the punt did an excellent job of both downing the ball inside the 20-yard line and tracking down Michigan State’s return men to make plays.

Some of the top Special Teams & Defensive plays in the 28-7 victory over Michigan State. #WeAre pic.twitter.com/m39z5WweC7

— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) October 28, 2019

The punt team’s play of the game was a Dan Chisena recovery after Michigan State’s Brandon Sowards muffed a punt at his own six-yard line. Penn State immediately cashed in with a passing touchdown from Sean Clifford to Pat Freiermuth on the first and only play of that offensive drive.

Gillikin was rewarded for his efforts when the Big Ten named him its special teams player of the week.

“We were able to punt the ball well and pin ’em deep,” head coach James Franklin said postgame. “You’d love to score every possession, but if you’re not, you want to pin people deep. We were able to do that pretty consistently tonight. That’s Blake, but that’s also [redshirt freshman Drew] Hartlaub, Chisena, and even [long snapper Chris] Stoll as well.”

Although Penn State’s special teams deserve a ton of credit for having an excellent game, it was by no means a perfect day for the unit. The game almost got off to a disastrous start when KJ Hamler fumbled his opening kick return, but Jesse Luketa managed to fall on it to make sure Michigan State didn’t get the ball in prime territory.

Outside of the return games, defensive end Shaka Toney also made a huge special teams play late in the second quarter. The Spartans had a chance to get some momentum with a 44-yard field goal try, but Toney got through and blocked it (with his head, by the way) to keep Michigan State off the board. Penn State turned the good field position it got on the play into eight points after Clifford’s third touchdown pass of the game and subsequent two-point conversion.

Although Penn State’s special teamers made lots of plays, they still definitely have plenty of room for improvement. Luketa took an unnecessary running into the kicker foul that ended up nullifying a KJ Hamler punt return touchdown, and the team also took a handful of holding and block-in-the-back fouls on kick and punt returns.

“The thing we got to eliminate is the penalties. We have too many penalties on special teams that are eliminating big plays,” Franklin said. “We had a kickoff return for a touchdown by KJ brought back for a hold that was unnecessary — during a double team. Tonight, we get a punt return for a touchdown and another penalty.”