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Iowa’s Awful Offense Aids In Record Breaking Opportunity For Hawkeyes Punter

#College Football
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Iowa's Tory Taylor punts the ball against Utah State.

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Iowa punter Tory Taylor has an opportunity to break an 85-year-old college football record this postseason. The special teamer is less than 20 yards away from setting the single-season mark for total punt yardage.

With the Hawkeyes set to face Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl, that goal is well within reach.

Of course, he’s been aided by a historically bad offensive unit. Over the course of the year, we’ve seen Iowa games set all-time lows at the sportsbooks in regard to the point total week after week.

And while those totals keep falling, the Hawkeyes continue to hit the UNDER in those matchups.

It’s gotten so bad that Vegas dared bettors to back the Black and Gold in the Big Ten Championship game against Michigan, setting Iowa’s team total at less than a point for both the first and second halves.

Somehow, they fell short of even that mark after being shut out by the Wolverines.

But all of that bad has provided an opportunity at history.

Bowl game offers record breaking opportunity for Iowa punter.

Tory Taylor can break the NCAA record for punt yards if he gets just one attempt in the Citrus Bowl. A mark that’s stood since 1938, Michigan State’s Johnny Pingel booted his punts for a total of 4,138 yards, still the most in a single season in college football history.

Taylor is currently at 4,119 yards, just 19 yards behind Pingel.

Given his average punt this season has sailed 48 yards, a single attempt should do the trick.

Taylor, while being extremely busy this year, has also been incredibly effective. He leads the nation with 86 total punts, 11 more than the next closest player, but he also ranks third in the sport in yards per kick.

To put into perspective his current combined distance of 4,119 yards, Navy’s Riley Riethman ranks second in college football, yet trails Taylor by more than 750 yards!

We’ll see if the Iowa punter can break the record against Tennessee on New Year’s Day. If the Hawkeyes play as they have in every other game this season, he should set a new mark with ease.