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No, he hasn&#8217;t been calling his shots before kicking field goals in practice. But Joey Julius has already drawn a comparison to a baseball legend.&#8220;I would probably characterize him more like Babe Ruth,&#8221; Penn State coach James Franklin said of his new kicker. &#8220;I mean he just grabs the bat &#8212; walk off and smack it.&#8221;Interesting. In Franklin&#8217;s mind, that kind of mentality is a double-edged sword.On one hand, Julius has the confidence &#8212; and leg strength &#8212; to connect from any reasonable difference. On the other, the Nittany Lions would like to see a little more attention to detail from the redshirt freshman, who will make his college debut in Saturday&#8217;s opener at Temple.&#8220;I do like the fact,&#8221; Franklin said, &#8220;that if I go to Joe and say, &#8216;Joe, we got a 61-yard field goal, can you hit it?&#8217; There is no doubt in my mind that Joe&#8217;s going to say, &#8216;No doubt,&#8217; and he&#8217;ll be running on the field before I even call it. So I like that confidence that he has in himself.&#8220;What I think he needs to embrace is just that approach of being a detail-oriented guy and come up with a standard operating procedure of how he goes about his business every single day. &#8230; With Joey I don&#8217;t know if there&#8217;s a difference whether it&#8217;s a 28-yard field goal or whether it&#8217;s a 58-yard field goal. His percentage of hitting and percentage of missing doesn&#8217;t really change a whole lot. That&#8217;s probably the one thing I would say with him that he needs to work on.&#8221;Needless to say, the kicking game remains one of Penn State&#8217;s largest question marks headed into the 2015 season.With steady veteran Sam Ficken gone, Franklin may have some tough decisions to make on fourth down, especially early in the season.And while Julius has gotten the nod for field goals this weekend, a rough start could change things. Franklin said there is a very narrow gap between Julius and fellow walk-on Tyler Davis.&#8220;It&#8217;s very close,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;I mean you&#8217;re talking about probably over 250 kicks (during camp), and I want to say it&#8217;s within a percentage or two for them. Joey right now is in the lead.&#8221;New-look LBsThough much of the attention this weekend will be on Nyeem Wartman-White replacing Mike Hull in the middle, the Lions believe their linebacking corps overall is deeper and improved this season.The main reason for that are the progress made by the other two starters &#8212; junior Brandon Bell at the strong-side spot and sophomore Jason Cabinda on the weak-side.&#8220;Brandon Bell has improved significantly,&#8221; linebackers coach Brent Pry said. &#8220;He was a pleasant surprise to me last year. He has what I call game-savvy. His skillset is not off the charts. He has an average skillset, but he does a great job with angles and positioning. He&#8217;s a very smart football player.&#8221;Bell started in 2014 whereas Cabinda didn&#8217;t see the field until the end of September last year as a true freshman.Cabinda was limited in what he could do last fall, but has quickly grown into a more versatile player.&#8220;Last year he was a liability in the perimeter,&#8221; Pry said. &#8220;He&#8217;s improved drastically there. He led our linebacker crew in interceptions in camp. He&#8217;s leaning on routes, recognizing route combos. His transition is better, his movements are more fluid. He&#8217;s really cleaned that up.&#8221;Junior Gary Wooten will back up Wartman-White while junior Von Walker and redshirt freshman Troy Reeder are behind Bell and Cabinda, respectively.Radio notes&#8226; Franklin was asked about the status of Adam Breneman by a fan during his weekly radio show on Thursday but declined to give any further details about the sophomore tight end&#8217;s injury.&#8220;I can&#8217;t speak on that. I really can&#8217;t,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;I&#8217;d love to see him on the field. He is on the roster, just not on the depth chart.&#8220;Adam Breneman is a class act. There&#8217;s no doubt that he will be highly successful.&#8221;The last few minutes of Penn State&#8217;s practice on Wednesday was open to reporters and Breneman was present and in pads.&#8226; Franklin said starting left tackle Paris Palmer will play between 297 and 302 pounds in the early going this season, but because of his 6-foot-7 frame, he can carry much more.The hope, Franklin said, is to get Palmer between 305-310 by the end of the season and ultimately play around 325 next season as a senior.&#8226; Two redshirt freshmen who received praise from the coach were safety Koa Farmer and quarterback Trace McSorley.&#8220;Koa&#8217;s a 6-1, 6-2, 220-pound kid who maybe is the second or third fastest guy on our team,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;He ran a 4.4.&#8221;Farmer has been practicing as one of the team&#8217;s top kick returners.As for McSorley, Franklin is hoping to be able to get him some reps late in lopsided games to get him on the field.As the scout team quarterback a year ago, he was a handful.&#8220;In practice, he&#8217;s been lights out,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;Last year, he gave our starting defense fits in the two-minute (drill). Not only with his decision-making but his ability to make plays with his feet. He&#8217;s handling everything extremely well.&#8221;<style>
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<div class="neCaption">New Penn State kicker Joey Julius (99) has plenty of confidence but the Nittany Lions coaches are looking for more consistency from him. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_julius2.jpg</photo0><caption0>New Penn State kicker Joey Julius (99) has plenty of confidence but the Nittany Lions coaches are looking for more consistency from him. </caption0><photoCredit0>Keith Srakocic | AP photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Derek Levarsedlevarse@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</shirttailMeta></div>

New Penn State kicker Julius not lacking confidence