Justin Lustig wasn’t Penn State’s special teams coordinator last season, but he was well aware of Sander Sahaydak’s struggles in the 2023 season opener. Sahaydak, the former Liberty High School star, missed field goal tries of 38 and 34 yards in the second quarter of the Nittany Lions’ 38-15 win over West Virginia last year. He had won the job during preseason camp and lost it to Alex Felkins before the end of the first game. “It’s a challenging position,” Lustig said Wednesday. “Kickers are a lot different than any other position on the football field. There’s a lot of mental performance work that goes into that. “I knew that it was an issue. The West Virginia game and getting over it was something we talked about a lot during the summer.” After missing a 47-yarder in this year’s opener against the Mountaineers, Sahaydak rebounded to make two from 43 and 28 yards in Penn State’s hard-fought 34-27 win over Bowling Green last weekend. Sahaydak hasn’t been available for interviews since last month. Lions coach James Franklin and Lustig stood behind him and were rewarded. “He had the opportunity at West Virginia late in the game and didn’t execute there, so I was disappointed in that,” Lustig said. “But he had such a good camp and he’s such a talented kicker that I felt strongly about sticking with him. “I was really pleased that he was able to hit two big field goals in the Bowling Green game. I’m hoping that it builds his confidence and that getting those made field goals out of the way will propel him to do what he does in practice every day.” Sahaydak was considered one of the top high school kickers in the 2021 recruiting class after making 19 career field goals at Liberty. He was redshirted as a freshman and spent the 2022 season as Jake Pinegar’s backup before he made his first field goal against Rutgers. He beat out Felkins, a transfer from Columbia, and others during preseason camp last year before the misses against West Virginia. Felkins took over the job and never gave it up. Sahaydak again kicked well in preseason camp this year, edging Ryan Barker and Chase Meyer, a transfer from Tulsa, to win the job. “If you look at the regular field goals in practice and at the pressure field goals at the end of practice, Sander was in the lead in both of those phases,” Lustig said. “That’s how we made the decision, especially those pressure situations. “If you look at Sander’s numbers last year, they weren’t as good. He made a significant improvement in those pressure field goals in practice. I felt like he took steps there and was ready to go.” Sahaydak is 3-for-7 on field goals in his Penn State career and 16-for-16 on PATs. “The mental part of it is big,” Lustig said. “For him to overcome some of the anxiety that he’s had and being able to hit those field goals is huge for his confidence and the mental aspect when he goes out on the field.”