Punters Have Their Day, UCF's Andrew Osteen Included
This past weekend was great for punters, and as legendary NFL punter Pat McAfee would say it was great for “The brand.”
From amazing celebrations to absolute monster punts, the week could not have been better for collegiate punters.
The day started with an absolutely legendary moment as during Illinois’ upset 14-6 victory over former No. 20 Minnesota, Illinois punter Blake Hayes, a Senior from Melbourne, Australia, booted the ball 41 yards down to the two yard line with just over one minute left. To celebrate, Hayes pretended to “row the boat,” a phrase Minnesota head coach PJ Fleck is known for before breaking the imaginary oar over his knee.
Things continued to get even better for punters throughout the day with senior LSU punter Avery Atkins completing a 26 yard pass on a fake punt against Alabama to extend an early touchdown drive.
The day was completed when San Diego State punter Matt Araiza blasted a ball over both Hawaii returnmen’s heads and out of the endzone, the punt was recorded as going for an impressive 79 yards, however it actually traveled further as the punter kicked the ball from his own 11 yard line, with the ball landing a couple yards into the endzone.
This isn’t new to Araiza though as this isn’t even his second longest punt of the season, he kicked an 86 yard punt in a win over San Jose State, and an 81 yard punt in a win over Air Force.
The UCF’s Andrew Osteen also got in on the action with a great performance including two beautiful punts, one with great hang time forcing a fair catch and one perfectly placed inside the Tulane one yard line. That 40-yard punt allowed the UCF defense to quickly get Tulane’s offense off the field and give UCF’s offense the ball in amazing field position. That punt and excellent defensive stop set up freshman quarterback Mikey Keene to deliver a 23-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brandon Johnson for the game winning score.
Osteen’s game was really good, despite being a pretty inconsistent year for a punter that plays for a college football program that produced multiple NFL specialists. What makes it even more impressive is that it was really cold for Orlando on Saturday, with temperatures in the mid to low 60’s all day long.
Osteen was asked how he stayed warm during the game, “I had a hand warmer, so that helped my hands. But really, just stretching on the sideline, kicking the ball into the net, moving around. Really just trying to stay warm out there.”
Osteen, a junior punter from Enterprise, Ala., will look to build upon this performance as he and UCF travel to Dallas, Texas to take on SMU. That game will likely determine which team will finish in third place for the American Athletic Conference.
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