Tag: Eddie Czaplicki

USC won’t be caught shorthanded on special teams in 2025

USC has restocked the cupboard on special teams. Can the Trojans now address their offensive line?

As we have stated here in the past, USC’s best player in 2024 played on neither offense or defense, but special teams. Eddie Czaplicki, who won the Ray Guy Award as the top punter in the nation, was the Trojans’ top player in 2024, alongside Woody Marks. However, with both Czaplicki and starting kicker Michael Lantz out of eligibility after the Las Vegas Bowl, the Trojans will need to find replacements at both positions.

In recent days, they took a major step towards doing such with the addition of UNLV transfer kicker Caden Chittenden. With the Rebels this past season, Chittenden was named the Mountain West Freshman of the Year on special teams, making 24 of his 30 field goal attempts.

This comes a week after the Trojans earned a commitment from one of the nation’s top high school punter recruits in Will Weisberg. Wesiberg comes to USC from nearby Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California.

Replacing Lantz and Czaplicki’s production will be an incredibly tough challenge. But with the additions of Chittenden and Weisberg, the Trojans hope they will at least be able to maintain a high level of play at both positions.

Eddie Czaplicki wins Ray Guy Award as nation’s best punter

Eddie Czaplicki is USC’s first-ever Ray Guy Award winner. Congratulations, Eddie!

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.

USC’s Eddie Czaplicki named a 2024 college football All-American

In a brutal season for USC, a few really bright lights stood out. Eddie Czaplicki is one of them, and he is now an All-American. Congratulations, Eddie!

The 2024 football season has been a disastrous one for USC. Despite the team’s 6-6 record, however, one Trojan will still be taking home hardware. On Wednesday, 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. In 2022, quarterback Caleb Williams, offensive linemen AndrewVorhees and Brett Neilon, defensive lineman Tuli Tuipulotu, and safety Calen Bullock all received such recognition. Last year, Zachariah Branch was named a First Team All-American at kick returner.

USC will conclude its 2024 season against Texas A&M in the Las Vegas Bowl on December 27.

One fact shows why USC football fell short in the Big Ten this year

USC placed just one player on the Big Ten’s first team this year, and it was the punter. Few facts will tell a simpler story about the Trojans in 2024.

There are many indicators and telling facts which explain why USC football fell woefully short in Big Ten football competition this year. Earlier this week, the Big Ten announced its all-conference football teams for the 2024 season.

In a rather fitting development just one Trojans made the first team. Who was it, you ask? Why, that would be punter Eddie Czaplicki, of course.

Czaplicki being the lone Trojan to earn all-conference honors was a rather fitting microcosm of USC’s season. The Trojans struggled offensively throughout the year, with Czaplicki frequently needing to bail them out in terms of field position.

Two USC players did earn second team all-Big Ten honors: offensive lineman Emmanuel Pregnon and running back Woody Marks. The Trojans also had four players on the third team: offensive lineman Jonah Monheim, cornerback Jaylin Smith, long snapper Hank Pepper, and return specialist Makai Lemon.

In addition, Lemon was an all-conference honorable mention at wide receiver. Also earning honorable mention recognition were linebacker Easton Macarena’s-Arnold, offensive lineman Elijah Paige, tight end Lake McRee, safety Kmari Ramsey, and defensive lineman Gavin Meyer.

The Trojans finished the regular season 6-6, and await their bowl game destination.

Eddie Czaplicki is one of USC’s top players, and that isn’t a good thing

Eddie Czaplicki and Woody Marks are USC’s two best players in 2024. The prominence of a punter is not what anyone wants from a football team.

Who do you want to be the best player on your football team? In an ideal world, it is your superstar quarterback. If not him, then maybe an elite wide receiver, a dominant offensive lineman, or a ball hawk linebacker. Generally, you don’t want the best player on your football team to be the punter, but that has been exactly the case for USC football in 2024. USC punter Eddie Czaplicki has quietly become one of the top punters in the nation.

Czaplicki had yet another effective game on Saturday night against UCLA, averaging 47 yards on his three attempts. Czaplicki’s 48.8 yards per punt are good for first in the Big Ten and third in the country.

That is great for Czaplicki. He deserves every bit of recognition as one of the nation’s top punters. However, the fact that the Trojans’ best player is their punter is not such a good thing for USC.

Generally, if a team is punting enough that their punter is in contention for the Ray Guy Award, that means their offense is not playing very well. For the Trojans, who managed to score just 19 points last night against a bad UCLA team, that is indeed the case.

If more players (and coaches) on USC’s offense had stepped up this season, there would not have been a need or opportunity for Czaplicki to step up as much as he has. But with the Trojans struggling to score, the spotlight has shifted to their punter, who has shined in it.

So give Czaplicki all of his flowers. When USC’s seniors are honored prior to the game against Notre Dame this Saturday, he deserves the loudest cheer of any of them.

For the Trojans, that is a problem.

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USC’s Eddie Czaplicki makes his mark as nation’s top-ranked punter

Eddie Czaplicki is doing his best for USC this season, but even he would like it if the offense started scoring more than 30 points in Big Ten games.

USC transfer Eddie Czaplicki has quickly established himself as one of the top punters in the nation since coming over from Arizona State. Czaplicki is currently ranked No. 1 in the country with an average of 52.1 yards on his 11 punts this season.

Czaplicki has been a crucial part of USC’s success this season, and he was particularly impressive in the team’s first Big Ten game against Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 21. He recorded a career-high average of 53.1 yards on 7 punts with a long of 60 yards, which is a season-best.

Czaplicki play helped to mitigate a slow start and inconsistent play from the offense in Ann Arbor last Saturday by flipping the field against Michigan. Five of his seven punts were over 50 yards (60 yards, 59 yards, 56 yards, 50 yards, and 57 yards). His ability to consistently boom the ball deep into Michigan territory gave the Trojans excellent field position and helped them navigate a tough first half of the game.

Czaplicki’s performance this season is a continuation of his strong play in 2023, when he averaged 43.3 yards per punt with a long of 57 yards. He has shown tremendous consistency throughout his career, and he is now one of the most reliable punters in the nation.

He is a key part of the Trojans’ special teams unit, and he has played a significant role in their success this season.

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Eddie Czaplicki needs to be ready if USC offense struggles

Eddie Czaplicki hopes to not take the field, but if USC’s offense bogs down, he will be needed.

Senior USC Trojans punter Eddie Czaplicki occupies an uncomfortable but important role on the 2024 Men of Troy. On one hand, USC needs him when called upon. On the other hand, USC doesn’t want him to take the field too many times. The less we see of him, the better. Czaplicki is an intriguing part of USC’s move to the Big Ten Conference, and his place on this team could become more central than many currently appreciate.

Czaplicki was selected to the 2024 Ray Guy Award Watch List. The Ray Guy Award honors the nation’s top collegiate punter. In his collegiate career, he has handled punting and kickoffs duties. He has recorded 139 punts for 6,159 yards (44.3-yard average) with a long of 75 yards and 36 punts going 50 yards or more. He has touchbacks on 43 of his 86 kickoffs (50%).

He transferred to USC in the spring of 2023 from Arizona State and served as USC’s punter in the 2023 season. He averaged 43.3 yards on his 44 punts in 2023, of which 15 pinned opponents inside the 20. He also had 30 kickoffs, totaling 1,906 yards. He appeared in all 13 games.

The thing about Czaplicki is that in a shootout game — which could be USC’s opener versus LSU — the Trojans don’t want him to punt at all. However, when USC gets into a slog in Big Ten play, such as a game at Maryland in mid-October when the offense struggles in a noon start, Czaplicki might make the difference in a 16-13 final score. Czaplicki won’t be needed all the time, but he might be needed if Miller Moss and friends can’t light up the scoreboard. USC’s battles against Michigan and Penn State might also be the kinds of slugfests in which field position turns the tide for the Trojans.

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