Washington punter Hunter Green was named one of the “Ray’s Eight” punters of the week by the Ray Guy Award after his 310-yard punting performance at USC. Green punted six times for an average of 51.7 yards with three pinned inside the 20-yard line. Two of his punts were downed at the one-yard line. His performance, along with the punt coverage unit, helped force USC’s average starting field position to its own 24-yard line and made the Trojans drive the length of the field.
Hunter Green Named Ray’s Eight
Flip The Field
“His ability to flip the field has been exceptionally good,” Jedd Fisch said on Monday. Washington’s average starting field position on offense has been its own 24-yard line in its first two games of Big Ten play. Fisch noted how Green has helped move them out of those spots when needed.
“We’ve also been pushed back [on offense] more times than I can ever remember starting drives inside the 10-yard line,” Fisch explained. “What he’s been able to do, though, is he’s been able to give such a long field back to the other teams.”
One of the biggest messages in the week leading up to the USC game was to force the Trojan offense to sustain long drives and take away explosive plays. Three of USC’s four offensive scoring drives in its 25-21 win spanned at least 75 yards. Two of them went for 13 and 16 plays, respectively. “The biggest thing against SC was we wanted to make them go the long way,” Fisch said. “And I thought that Hunter has done a tremendous job in helping us do that, as well as our cover units. When you kick it with that type of hang time, it allows our guys to get down there. But the guys have been making some great tackles as well.” Green’s average hang time of 4.11 seconds ranks third-best in the Big Ten.
Hunter Green’s Early-Season
Through five games, Green has punted 24 times for 1,138 yards with 10 punts pinned inside the 20-yard line. His 24 attempts are tied for the most in the Big Ten with Michigan’s punter. Green’s net yardage of 43.3 is fourth-best in the league. The Washington offense is just two of 22 on third-down attempts in Big Ten play thus far. The group has needed to punt more than it has probably wanted to through these first five games. But when called upon and when the field needs to be flipped, Green has delivered.
Iowa Punting and Field Position
On the other side, Iowa brings one of the better punt units to Seattle on Friday night. Boston Everitt leads the nation in punts pinned inside the 20-yard line through five weeks of play with 14 total. Iowa’s punt unit has attempted 23 punts this season and has allowed just three returns for three total yards. Opponent punt return units have been rendered completely ineffective against the Hawkeye punt coverage team.
Related to that, Iowa ranks ninth nationally in opponent average starting field position. Hawkeye opponents have started offensive drives at their own 25-yard line on average this season. That is largely due to the success of its punt team and punt coverage unit.
Friday night inside Husky Stadium, field position will be at a premium. These two programs rank at the top of the Big Ten in terms of most punts per game. Washington is averaging 4.8 (the most in the league), while the Hawkeyes average 4.6 punts per contest (third-most). “It’s just a game that you’re gonna have to grind it out,” Fisch said on Monday. “It will be quite the challenge… You know what you’re gonna get. So we’re excited about the opportunity to compete against them on Friday night.”
Main Photo: Dave Sizer photo/Yahoo Sports