USC football punter Eddie Czaplicki is collecting honors and hardware after a spectacular 2024 regular season. One could make the argument that Woody Marks was USC’s best player, but since Ashton Jeanty of Boise State exists, Marks isn’t getting trophies for his stellar work as a running back at USC. It’s Czaplicki who is cleaning up. The USC punter won the Ray Guy Award on Thursday night, given to the best punter in college football. He is USC’s first-ever Ray Guy winner. The facts don’t lie, as we noted earlier this week:
USC senior punter Eddie Czaplicki was officially named a First Team All-American by The Athletic. He becomes the 177th All-American in school history. Czaplicki is also just the second USC punter to earn such honors, with the lone other being Tom Malone in 2003.
This season, Czaplicki averaged 48.5 yards per punt, good for third most in the country. His 45.7 net yards average led the FBS.
Czaplicki is the seventh Trojan to earn First Team All-American honors under head coach Lincoln Riley.
If there’s a reason Czaplicki beat out Florida State punter Alex Mastromanno for the award, it’s that Czaplicki pinned more of his punts inside the 20. Mastromanno was elite in yards per punt, but Czaplicki had more of an impact on field position. Florida State’s awful offense might have played a role in making Czaplicki’s results stand out more than Mastromanno’s.
Regardless, USC — and Eddie Czaplicki — will take it.