Ryan Barker was a stalwart for Penn State once again in the 22-10 win over Clemson in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl. The kicker was three for three on field goals, including a 48-yard attempt, and made his only extra point try of the night.

Barker has been reliable for the Nittany Lions all season, going 18 for 19 on field goals with his only miss a block. The Landenberg, Pennsylvania, native was 15 for 18 a season ago.

“I’ve made an exceptional step forward, not only mentally, but just on the field, with the statistics,” Barker said after the bowl game. “I’m just really proud of myself for what I’ve been able to accomplish. I’ve always believed in myself, but I never thought that I’d succeed as well as I did this year.”

Barker said he always knew that he had the physical talent to be as good as he was this year, but struggled with the mental aspect of the game. The long seasons were hard for him, and he’d hit walls with a lack of motivation sometimes creeping in, he said.

“I try to keep the mentality of one kick at a time,” Barker said. “I just try to worry about the kick at hand, and everything just kind of seemed to take care of itself this year.”

Despite the productive season, Barker was left off the All-Big Ten teams for a second season. Instead, Maryland’s Sean O’Haire, Indiana’s Nico Radicic, and USC’s Ryon Sayeri made the list. As it stands on December 27, Barker leads the Big Ten in field goal percentage.

“I’m going to take note of it,” Barker said. “… If I don’t like where I stand, if I got any awards, whatever it may be, I’m always going to use it as fuel to get better and be that person in that spot next year.”

As for next year, while nothing is official, Barker said that he would love to be here again. The kicker said his initial talks with Matt Campbell, the new head coach of Penn State, have been great and that the former Iowa State man “thinks the world of [him].”

College kickers are notorious for ruining or saving seasons. In the first round of the playoffs, Miami took down Texas A&M in a game where there were four missed field goals. Interim head coach Terry Smith said after the Pinstripe Bowl that having stability at any position, but especially kicker, is vital to a team’s success.

“We sometimes take for granted something that’s so difficult, because they make it look so easy,” Smith said postgame. “It’s not easy. But man, [Barker’s] been so reliable and dependable that we just count those three when he goes on to the field.”

Against Clemson, Barker made a 48-yarder, a 43-yarder, and a 22-yarder, despite only kicking twice in the 40+ range this entire season before Saturday. This is through the difficulties of playing in a game under 25 degrees with wind over 10 mph at times.

“You have to change up the swing a little bit,” Barker said. “With the ground being really hard, it makes it a bit more difficult to get that plant foot into the ground. So throughout warmups, we were just going through that and figuring out what was the best way to go about it.”

Barker said the weather conditions reminded him a little of the SMU game last season. A game where he hit his only attempt of the day from 40 yards.

The kicker said he has the mindset to stay warm once he leaves the locker room. He doesn’t like getting cold and then trying to warm his legs up right before kicks. Instead, he uses the heated benches and gets a few kicks in on second and third downs when Penn State is in field goal range.

Barker also had to deal with a new background on Saturday, playing in a baseball stadium. He said that it didn’t really bother him, but he questioned what it would be like a lot during the week.

“I just look at the uprights anyway.”