Penn State Kicker Ryan Barker Continues Turning Heads

Barker became his high school's first Division I football player. Now, he could be the Nittany Lions' starting placekicker vs. USC.

Penn State kicker Ryan Barker (94) is congratulated by teammates after making a field goal during the Blue-White spring game at Beaver Stadium. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Ryan Barker once asked for a kicking tee for Christmas. He was an eighth-grade soccer player then but wanted to give field-goal kicking a try. Barker stood alone on the football field at Kennett High School, with his dad watching from behind a fence. He brought one ball and his tee and lined up about 50 yards from the goalposts. Barker had never kicked a football before, yet he was drilling field goals like a seasoned pro. 

Kennett High football coach Lance Frazier came out of his office to watch. Barker wasn’t even in high school yet, but Frazier knew hitting 50-yarders on Day 1 was no fluke. 

“I’ve never seen him play soccer, and I don’t want to be disrespectful,” Frazier said to Barker’s dad. “But what he’s doing right now, today, if you’re telling me this is his first day, he’s probably going to have Penn State beating on his door, Nick Saban down at Alabama beating on his door, and they’re probably going to want him to not play soccer anymore.” 

Fast forward to 2024, and Barker has emerged as a lead kicker for Penn State, which visits USC on Saturday at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. As he did as an eighth-grader, Barker turned heads at Penn State in 2023, when he stepped onto the field as Kennett High's first Division I football player.

“He’s been a guy that, since he’s stepped on campus, has been really impressive,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “I think the thing that I’ve been most impressed with him is just how steady and level he is. He doesn’t get too high, he doesn’t get too low. He’s got a very mature way about him.”

Barker, a redshirt freshman, made his first career start last weekend against UCLA. He stepped in for third-year kicker Sander Sahaydak, who won the job in training camp but made just two of his first five field-goal attempts this season. After Sayahdak missed two 40-yarders against Illinois, Barker took the final extra point of that game and the starting job the following week against UCLA. 

Barker made his first two college field goals against the Bruins, one from 40 yards, and Franklin compared his accuracy to a JUGS machine. Frazier said Barker's accuracy stemmed from his “business-like” personality, which the kicker has demonstrated consistently at Penn State.

Barker made a strong first impression at Penn State. He had solid numbers at Kennett, good size (6-2, 195 pounds) and a head-turning camp performance before enrolling. Still, Franklin said, the coaches “didn’t know what we were totally getting.” Then Barker made a strong case for the starting job this season, taking the training camp competition “down to the wire.”

“He’s truly the kid that, instead of going out to party and hanging out, he’s up on the field kicking,” Frazier said. “You can come up here any time in the summer or whenever he has a break, he’s up on the field kicking.”

Barker is the first graduate from Kennett High, located about 30 miles west of Philadelphia. to play Division I football. Frazier said his former kicker is prepared for the expectations that come with that distinction. 

“Ryan is very aware of what he’s accomplishing and him being a trendsetter, the first to do it. I think he takes great pride in that,” Frazier said. “I think because he understands what he’s doing for so many others, I think he doesn’t want to let anybody down. He’s very passionate that way and very self-aware that way.” 

If Barker gets the start Saturday, he’ll face one of the nation’s most experienced kickers in USC’s Michael Lantz. A sixth-year senior, Lantz spent three seasons at Minnesota and two at Georgia Southern before transferring to USC this year. He’s 7-of-9 this season, including a long of 54 yards, and 38-of-48 in his career. 

It could be a battle between a veteran kicker in Lantz and a rising prospect in Barker. If so, Franklin said he feels confident about Barker’s ability to keep a level head in big moments.

“That ability to flush the last play, good or bad, and move on to the next one is really important,” Franklin said. “And from what I’ve seen from him, he does a very good job of it.” 

Penn State faces USC at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday on CBS.

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Sam Woloson has covered Penn State Athletics for the past three years and is currently the managing editor of The Daily Collegian. His work has also appeared in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Huntingdon Daily News and Rivals. Follow him on X @sam_woloson