The Iowa Hokies know how to turn great plays in the third phase of the game into wins.
Punting is winning, a saying that’s taken to heart in Iowa City.
Last season, legendary Hawkeye punter Tory Taylor set the NCAA single-season punting record with 4,479 yards on 93 punts, winning the Ray Guy Award. Taylor has downed 109 punts inside the opposing team’s 20-yard line over the past three seasons.
Taylor was so good that the Chicago Bears had no qualms about acquiring him with a fourth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
With Taylor leaving for the Windy City in the NFL, opposing fans may have expected one of Iowa’s biggest weapons to be gone, but while Taylor is off to Chicago, it looks like Iowa has acquired its next great weapon in the special teams department.
Another Australian, Reece Dakin, has been named the Hawkeyes’ punter, and the 6-foot-4, 225-pound freshman from Melbourne is already turning heads.
Rumors are also circulating: Paul Myerberg of USA Today Sports included Dakin among the 10 college football freshmen poised to make an immediate impact in the 2024 season.
With punting great Torry Taylor gone to the NFL, Iowa will hand over this crucial position to another key Australian player, Dakin, who will join the Big Ten by way of Melbourne. The punter transfer has a very good track record. Taylor was the second Australian to win the Ray Guy Award last year as the best player in the country at the position, joining Rutgers’ Adam Korsak. The Australians won the award five years in a row from 2013 to 2017. – Myerberg, USA Today Sports.
Taylor joins Myerberg’s list that includes Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola, Georgia cornerback Ellis Robinson IV, Auburn wide receiver Cam Coleman, Missouri defensive end Williams Nwaneri, Notre Dame linebacker Kinston Billiam-Asa, Colorado offensive tackle Jordan Seaton, South Carolina EDGE Dylan Stewart and Texas Tech wide receiver Micah Hudson.
Dakin will get his first chance to make an impression in a live game when the Hawkeyes host Illinois State in the season opener on Aug. 31 at Kinnick Stadium.
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