Penn State kicker Jake Pinegar finding success after poor start

Even if he grew up roughly two hours away from Iowa’s campus, Penn State junior kicker Jake Pinegar never was a big fan of the Hawkeyes.

There’s a good reason for that.

He grew up a half-hour from their rival’s campus.

“I was more of an Iowa State fan,” said the native of Ankney, Iowa.

Regardless, Saturday’s game at Beaver Stadium will offer a bit of a reunion for Pinegar.

“(Iowa cornerback Riley Moss), he was my teammate in high school,” Pinegar said during a video conference with media Wednesday. “Same age as me. So me and him are really good buddies. Played against a handful of those kids on that team. So yeah, I’ve got a couple of friends there. … Everywhere in Iowa, it’s usually just (the University of Iowa) more than Iowa State. Got a lot of people that I know go there and things like that. A lot of friends that play for Iowa. So it will be a fun week.”

Things haven’t been all that fun for Penn State throughout the 2020-21 season given its 0-4 record. The bleakness of their record has given Pinegar and his teammates reason to evaluate their contributions to the program.

“The majority of the conversations are people telling each other to look in the mirror, take a step back and look at what they can improve on, be better on,” Pinegar said.

“I know personally I did the same thing. Everybody on this team as coaches, players, everybody, they’re just kind of taking a step back, evaluating everything, looking to what they can improve and do better for themselves and for the team. Those are kind of the conversations people have been having.”

One domain where those conversations aren’t happening is online.

“Social media during the season is never really a good thing just because when you’re doing good, people are going to be there to say something to pat you on your back,” Pinegar said. “And when you’re doing bad, those same people are going to be there to say something and kind of stab you in your back. Social media really during the season is never something that people really are huge on or people are encouraged to use.

“Especially right now, it’s not a good idea. People need to focus on other things than what other people are saying, the outside noise and influence. So during the season, no matter (the success), it’s never really a big thing. Obviously, it’s there, and obviously, it can be good or bad. But bad or good, it’s just not encouraged to be on or tuned into that much.”

Pinegar’s accuracy has been fined tuned after a rough start to the season. During a 36-35 overtime loss at Indiana on Oct. 24, Pinegar both of his field-goal attempts.

Since then, he has connected on 4 of 5 field-goal attempts, including three during a 30-23 loss Saturday at Nebraska.

Pinegar admitted a waning focus led to his early struggles and gave some insight into his current approach.

“Just going out there and having a plan and having a routine and sticking to it, no matter what,” Pinegar said. “Some of those kicks early on, I kind of just took it for granted on some of them and didn’t stick to my routine and stick to what I should do and my training.

“As the years progress, I’ve gone out there and I’ve picked out a target line, and I’ve had my target line, and I’ve swung through that target line no matter what’s going on around me, no matter the wind, the weather, the circumstances and just trusting my training, falling back on that.”