After a stellar special teams display against Nevada in week one, Penn State football finds itself going back to the drawing board following an unbalanced showing from the unit against FIU on Saturday.

The Nittany Lions didn’t punt against the Wolf Pack in the season opener. Ryan Barker went a perfect 4-for-4 on field goals, leaving Penn State optimistic about the unit after several misfires on offense throughout the game

However, that trend lost a little bit of stock against the Panthers.

Gabe Nwosu shot two kickoffs out of bounds in the second half, gifting FIU better field position at the 35-yard line. Barker had a field goal attempt blocked as time expired in the second quarter.

Franklin went on a tangent at both his postgame and weekly press conferences about the blocking on the blocked field goal. He said a player did precisely the opposite of what the coaching staff teaches by putting two hands on the inside gap and leaving the outside gap free, resulting in the block. Franklin’s frustration on that specific play was clear, also referring to a similar situation last year.

On top of the blocked field goal, Franklin mentioned a missed block against Nevada on a kickoff that would have resulted in a house call for the Nittany Lions.

“Those are the things that I don’t want to be talking about at the end of the season,” Franklin said. “We got a chance to really capitalize on all these things, kicking the ball out of bounds. It’s an unforced error. Those things, they must be eliminated. The missed assignments must be eliminated so that our special teams have a chance to be the weapon that we think they can be.”

Despite the negatives outlined by Franklin, the special teams unit isn’t limited only to its mistakes.

As mentioned before, Barker is perfect on non-blocked field goals. Dom DeLuca returned the favor with a blocked punt of his own in the second quarter of Saturday’s matchup. Another special play came at the hands of Nwosu with a 68-yard bomb of a punt.

“I think special teams is really making some game-changing plays,” Franklin said. “You saw Gabe’s 68-yard punt. I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced a reaction in the stadium for a punt like that. It was pretty cool to kind of hear the reaction.”

While the unit has things to clean up, plays like Nwosu’s and Deluca’s cannot be undermined. The only issue with this is that Franklin and Penn State fans don’t know what version of the special teams unit they’re gonna get on Saturdays, given the samples from the Nevada and FIU games.

Overall, though, Franklin liked what he’s seen through the two opening games of 2025. He commended special teams coordinator, Justin Lustig, for his flexibility with Penn State’s personnel and having a deep understanding of how to utilize all of the Nittany Lions’ returning starters with new players to put the unit in the best possible position to succeed.

Despite the inconsistency through two weeks, Franklin’s confidence in the special teams unit hasn’t wavered. He knows how crucial the unit is to winning games and that the unit cannot be overlooked despite the Nittany Lions’ offensive and defensive firepower.