Rhys Dakin had himself a night at Minnesota.
The freshman punter from Melbourne, Australia, enjoyed his coming-out party in the Hawkeyes’ 31-14 win over the Gophers. Dakin’s right leg was one of the big developments in the win over Minnesota.
The 6-foot-4, 225 pound punter booted five punts for an average of 49.6 yards per punt in the win over Minnesota.
Three of his punts traveled 50 yards or more, including his career-long 55-yard punt in the second quarter.
Dakin also pinned Minnesota inside its 20-yard line on three occasions. As a result of his big performance, Dakin earned the Ray Guy Award Punter of the Week honor. It’s the first national weekly honor of Dakin’s budding Hawkeye career.
Doak Walker RB of the Week ➡️ @Kj_Superman2
Ray Guy Award Punter of the Week ➡️ @Rhys_dak1n#Hawkeyes — Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) September 24, 2024
Through the season’s first four games, Dakin has punted 23 times for an average of 43.6 yards per punt. Ten of Dakin’s punts have been downed inside the opponents’ 20-yard line.
“Yeah, I just talked to LeVar coming out. I said, ‘Did he do anything wrong tonight?’ I mean, he had one punt LeVar wasn’t pleased with totally, but, yeah, I thought he did a great job and that was a huge component of the game.
“This is his first road game, his first conference game, his fourth game in American football. He just seemed unfazed. The wind wasn’t real bad out there, but it didn’t seem to matter which way we were going. He just kept putting them down there and they had a long field all night long, which was really big and helping us. Although they still drove it twice, but typically they were starting out inside the 25 which is really helpful. I thought he was really good,” Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said of Dakin following the victory.
Given some of the lofty expectations for Dakin and the fact that he is succeeding current Chicago Bear and former Ray Guy Award-winning punter Tory Taylor, Ferentz feels Dakin has responded well to any early-season adversities.
“He’s been pretty good ever since he showed up and you know we weren’t working football with him, but just going back to the start of camp and I think it was Tuesday, he had a couple bad ones which is not like him. But then a couple plays later or punts later, he’s nailing it again. So, he typically practices really well. He’s steady. Probably doesn’t have the proficiency or expertise that Tory had a year ago, but you got a four-year gap there in that regard.
“I couldn’t be more pleased and to me the most pleasing thing is just watching his demeanor. He doesn’t seem to get too rattled or affected. Kind of liked his little, you know, showed a muscle. There’s a new thing on Big Ten enforcement on taunting, too, and I guess you can’t, guys are like shooting arrows and stuff, so he didn’t get a penalty for doing anything. But, I liked his moxie. That was good. He’s got a good spirit to him,” Ferentz said.
Dakin and Iowa return to action on Saturday, Oct. 5 with a road trip to No. 3 Ohio State. The game will kickoff at 2:30 p.m. CT and be televised on CBS.
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