Penn State Q&A: Riley Thompson talks winning punting job, why he joined the Lions, and more

Penn State punter Riley Thompson has a story that is unique as his kicking style. The 23-year-old from Melbourne, Australia, was the oldest player on The Athletic’s freshman All-American team last year after a strong first college season at Florida Atlantic. He left the school after just one season to transfer into the Nittany Lions program. Then, he went out and won their first-team punting job ahead of the 2023 season over returners Alex Bacchetta and Gabe Nwosu.

“We’re really lucky,” Thompson said. “We have a really close special teams unit. [But], once we get out there, we’re all competing for a job and trying to put our best foot forward.

“Gabe and Alex are really good punters, too. So it was a grind. It was a battle. We love to battle with each other and it doesn’t deter our friendships or anything. We have the camaraderie as well as the competition side of things.”

Thompson punts it rugby style, as is common with Australians who transition to American football. He is averaging 41.73 yards per punt. The Lions have not been hurt often in the field position game via bad punts, but they are one of just 13 FBS schools to have a punt blocked this year. That happened last week at Illinois.

In other words, Thompson’s start could have been better. But, it certainly could have been worse, too. And, taking it day by day is the first-year Nittany Lion’s preferred preparation style.

“We’re always working on things in practice,” Thompson said. “We’re always. looking to get better. We’ve worked on the things we need to work on to get better for next week.

“We’re always building. I’m always focused on the next game. I’m focused on worried about getting ready for the next one. We’re improving in practices and games and each week we’re getting better and aiming to have a better performance the next week.”

Thompson is the feature of this week’s Blue-White Illustrated player Q&A.

More from Penn State punter Riley Thompson

Thompson covered another of other topics on Wednesday, including:

Why did he want to come from overseas to play college football?

“I think first and foremost was education,” Thompson said. “Like for me education is so important. And, coming over here to get a good education from such an elite school was a massive draw for me. The crowds and the fans, like, we love the support that we get and playing in front of fans. So I think those two things combined. I love playing for teams as well. I’m a big team guy. So being involved in a team was another major theme. But, yeah, as I said, the education and playing in front of the fans [who love the team] is awesome.”

What was the draw of Penn State?

“I wanted to go somewhere that had a strong emphasis on special teams,” Thompson said. “The people here, they’re awesome. I really value everyone being invested and looking after each other and looking out for each other. And that’s really what I found here. I think it’s one big unit and we operate as a family. That really stood out to me. And, I think it made it a no-brainer for me when I started talking with Penn State to come here.”

Are there differences between Australian-born and U.S.-born punters?

“It depends on the punter,” Thompson said. “[Austrlians] can roll out and kick it end over end, rugby style. That’s what we’ve been taught. We do learn to spiral [otherwise known as traditional U.S. football punting], but it’s not as commonly used. So the main learning concept, I guess, when we come here is learning to spiral rather than to kick that rollout rugby style as the Americans tend to call it. But yeah, the kicking is all the same. It’s just kind of adapting to a new ball and then learning how to spiral from the pocket a little bit more.”