The Iowa Hawkeyes know how to turn terrific play in the third phase of the game into winning football.
Punting is winning. That’s a moniker that’s taken to heart in Iowa City.
Last season, storied Hawkeye punter Tory Taylor captured the Ray Guy Award after setting the NCAA single-season punting yardage record with 4,479 yards on 93 punts. Taylor had 109 punts downed inside the opponents’ 20-yard-line over the past three seasons.
Taylor was so good that the Chicago Bears were comfortable using a fourth-round pick on him in the 2024 NFL draft.
With Taylor off to the Windy City in the NFL, opposing fan bases might have been holding out hope that one of Iowa’s biggest weapons was out of the picture. While Taylor moves on to Chicago, it looks like Iowa has its next great weapon in the special teams department.
Rhys Dakin, another Aussie, steps in as the punter for the Hawkeyes. The 6-foot-4, 225 pound freshman from Melbourne is already turning heads.
The word is getting out, too. USA TODAY Sports’ Paul Myerberg included Dakin among his 10 college football freshmen ready to make an instant impact in the 2024 season.
With punting maestro Tory Taylor off to the NFL, Iowa will turn this all-important position over to another Australian important in Dakin, who arrives in the Big Ten via Melbourne. The track record of imported punters is very strong: Taylor was the second Australian in a row to win the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s best at the position when he did so last year, following Rutgers’ Adam Korsak, and Australians took home the award for five years in a row from 2013-17. – Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports.
Taylor joins a list from Myerberg that features 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 Kyngstonn Viliamu-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 impress in live action on Aug. 31 when the Hawkeyes host Illinois State in their season opener from Kinnick Stadium.
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