Jordan Stout handled punts, field goals and kickoffs for Penn State this season, but it was punting where he truly excelled, winning Big Ten punter of the year honors.
                                 Andy Manis | AP file photo

Jordan Stout handled punts, field goals and kickoffs for Penn State this season, but it was punting where he truly excelled, winning Big Ten punter of the year honors.

Andy Manis | AP file photo

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There wasn’t exactly a ton of national attention two weeks ago when Penn State and Rutgers faced off. As it turned out, one of the most interesting battles came on special teams.

In a game with 18 total punts, Penn State’s Jordan Stout and Rutgers’ Adam Korsak took turns dueling. Korsak uncorked a 74-yarder to finish with the higher average on the day, but Stout put six of his eight tries inside the 20 in the Nittany Lions’ 28-0 victory.

On Tuesday, Stout edged Korsak for the Big Ten’s Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year award, making him the first Penn State player to win the trophy.

Stout’s win on Tuesday could bode well for his chances for the biggest recognition. Stout, Korsak and San Diego State’s Matt Araiza are the three finalists for the Ray Guy Award, which will be given out on Dec. 9 to the nation’s top punter.

Perhaps most impressively, Stout is in line to finish his career as the best statistical punter in school history, this despite having his attention divided in 2021 by also handling field goals, extra points and kickoffs for the Lions.

Stout’s career average of 44.81 yards per punt and season average of 46.55 would both be school records, pending his performance in the team’s bowl game.

Over 12 games, opponents only totaled 33 yards on punt returns, the lowest number nationally. He was named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week four times this season, becoming only the second player in conference history to pull off that feat.

Ebiketie, Brisker lead defense

Stout also topped Korsak for first-team All-Big Ten honors in both the coaches and media votes and was joined by two unanimous first-team selections on defense in safety Jaquan Brisker and defensive end Arnold Ebiketie.

In all, 10 of Penn State’s 11 starters on defense from the start of the season received some sort of conference honors.

Linebacker Ellis Brooks, who topped 100 tackles for the season on Saturday, was a unanimous second-team pick. Despite suffering a season-ending injury in his sixth game, defensive tackle PJ Mustipher garnered a second-team vote from the coaches to go with an honorable mention from the media.

Big Ten coaches also gave third-team honors to safety Ji’Ayir Brown, linebacker Brandon Smith and cornerback Joey Porter Jr., all of whom were honorable mentions by the media. Defensive end Jesse Luketa was a third-team pick by the media and an honorable mention for the coaches.

Rounding out the awards were cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields, who was an honorable mention in both votes and linebacker Curtis Jacobs, who was an honorable mention for the media.

On special teams, Stout also earned an honorable mention as a kicker from the media, who also voted for Jahan Dotson as an honorable mention as a return specialist.

Other major awards given out by the Big Ten on Tuesday went to Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson (defensive player of the year and defensive lineman of the year), Wisconsin’s Leo Chenal (linebacker of the year), Iowa’s Riley Moss (defensive back of the year), Michigan’s Jake Moody (kicker of the year) and Iowa’s Charlie Jones (return specialist of the year).

Michigan State’s Mel Tucker won both Big Ten coach of the year awards in separate votes by his coaching peers and the media.

The league will announce its awards and all-conference teams for offense on Wednesday.

Lions lose potential OL transfer

Eric Wilson started nearly the entire season for Penn State at left guard after transferring in from Harvard. But one of his old teammates will not be following in his footsteps.

Tackle Spencer Rolland announced Tuesday that he would not be finishing his college career with the Lions in 2022 after all. Rolland had said over the summer he planned to transfer to Penn State after this season, in which he finished as a first-team All-Ivy League selection for the Crimson.

But the 6-foot-6, 285-pounder will instead explore his options.

“I have decommitted from Penn State and have re-entered my name into the transfer portal as an OT to complete my last two years of eligibility,” Rolland wrote on Twitter.

Penn State’s scholarship numbers figure to be in heavy flux this offseason as they must balance signing a large recruiting class in two weeks, possibly bringing back a veteran or two for an extra season provided by the pandemic and also having some flexibility to add players through the transfer portal.