Sophomore kicker/punter Matt Marcincin is no longer a part of Penn State’s football team.
Marcincin is not listed on the roster on the team’s official website, and Thursday morning, team spokesman Jeff Nelson confirmed Marcincin had left the program. Nelson did not give a reason for Marcincin’s departure but said the Malvern native plans to remain a student at Penn State.
With Marcincin out of the picture, the Nittany Lions are left with Sam Ficken and Kevin DiSanto at kicker.
Ficken had a rough outing this past weekend against Virginia, going 1-for-5 on field goal attempts. He also had an extra point blocked. Even after Ficken’s dismal performance, coach Bill O’Brien said Tuesday he was not making changes at kicker, calling Ficken “the best of what we got [at kicker].” Marcincin did not attempt a kick or punt the ball in either of the Lions’ first two games.
O’Brien added it’s an open competition at kicker every week for the team, a competition Marcincin will no longer be a part of.
“To be honest with you, it’s open every week,” O’Brien said at his weekly press conference Tuesday. “We chart it. It’s open every single week. We chart the kicks. We chart the accuracy. We chart the percentages of kicks made. We chart the operation time.”
While O’Brien is continuing to have Ficken handle kicking duties, junior Alex Butterworth will also keep punting for Penn State. Butterworth has averaged 38.0 yards per punt in eight attempts this season.
Marcincin is not the first Penn State player to leave the team this week. On Wednesday, wide receiver Shawney Kersey was dropped from the roster for what the team called “personal reasons.”
