Tory Taylor has been rewriting the record books for some time in Iowa City. It just so happens that he got to do it one final time for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
With his opening punt in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl versus the Tennessee Volunteers, Taylor surpassed Michigan State‘s Johnny Pingel’s single-season Football Bowl Subdivision punting yardage record. Taylor sent a record that had stood for 85 years tumbling away.
In perfect Taylor fashion, his first punt was a boomer. It wound up as a 62-yard punt that was downed at the Tennessee 16-yard line.
That punt moved Taylor past Pingel’s 4,138 punting yards on 99 punts in the 1938 season. Taylor accomplished his feat with his 87th punt of the 2023 season. With the punt, Taylor had 4,181 punting yards in his Hawkeye career.
HIS-TORY 🤩@HawkeyeFootball Tory Taylor sets the FBS record for the most punt yards in a single season 👏 pic.twitter.com/KmCAnefsYs
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) January 1, 2024
Taylor became the first Hawkeye to win the Ray Guy Award, presented annually to the nation’s best punter. Taylor won the award over fellow finalists Matthew Hayball of Vanderbilt and Alex Mastromanno of Florida State.
For a third consecutive season, Taylor set the Hawkeyes’ single-season punting yardage record. Entering the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, Taylor led the NCAA with 86 punts for 4,119 yards. His 47.9 yards per punt average led the Big Ten and ranked third nationally.
Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz discussed what Taylor has meant to Iowa’s program on Nov. 14, 2023.
“His story is so unusual. It puts a smile on my face. Talking about the ills of college football right now, he was the anti-story of that. He got here, and I remember pulling up to Purdue, and there was nobody on the sidewalk. It was kind of weird. It was like a high school scrimmage, Big Ten game, nobody there. Like, whoa, science fiction movie.
“His first game ever, and he was so naive to college football, American college football. It was kind of refreshing actually, so it was kind of neat. He’s become Americanized now. He’s part of the pack here.
“To watch his evolution, he was obviously talented then, had raw ability and talent. The one thing about him this year that I’ll never forget is just the way he’s practiced. He’s a real craftsman now. He went from a guy who kicked the ball. That’s what he did forever, grew up doing that, punting the ball and all that stuff, but now he is just like, he has such clear focus and intent every time he’s out there at practice. He’s really practiced at a high level,” Ferentz said.
Ferentz touched on the type of leader Taylor has been for his program, too.
“He has been a really strong team leader on top of that. He has a unique perspective, but he’s a really good teammate. He cares about his teammates deeply. Specialist is kind of funny. It’s like a relief pitcher in baseball. Those guys stand out in a different dugout, and they’re away from the main team and all that, but there’s some parallels to that. When they go out there, everybody watches to see what they do.
“He’s in that situation, but he’s done a great job bonding with everybody. I think he enjoys life. I know he seems like he’s really enjoyed his time here in Iowa. We’ve been fortunate to have him come through this place and be part of us. So just thrilled for him. His future, I wish him all the best obviously moving forward, all those guys,” Ferentz said.
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