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Walk-On Husky Punter Won the Job From Idaho State Transfer

Jack McCallister supplied two kicks in his debut against Kent State.
Dan Raley|
Walk-On Husky Punter Won the Job From Idaho State Transfer
Walk-On Husky Punter Won the Job From Idaho State Transfer

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Washington Huskies

In case it escaped notice, and it almost did for everyone— because the University of Washington football team did its best to avoid punting at all — walk-on Jack McCallister won the job for last weekend's season opener against Kent State.

The redshirt freshman from Edmonds, Washington, beat out Idaho State transfer Kevin Ryan for the right to launch two punts in the Huskies' 45-20 victory, coach Kalen DeBoer confirmed.

Ryan came to the Huskies this spring for a final college season after finishing as the fifth-best FCS punter with a 45.6-yard average. 

McCallister showed up the season before, joining the Huskies after coming out of King's High School and initially declaring himself to be a preferred walk-on for Weber State, then changing his mind.

"Jack was the choice for us to punt and Kevin has done a nice job," DeBoer said. "Jack, you could see the first punt, he hit a nice one."

While he didn't punt in any games in 2021 with Race Porter firmly entrenched, McCallister basically went one-for-two against Kansas State.

In the third quarter, he came out for the Huskies' first punt of the season and booted a 48-yarder out of his end zone, a memorable collegiate debut for him.

However, late in the game, McCallister punted one just 20 yards that went out of bounds, putting Kent State on its 32-yard line. 

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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