North Carolina punter Ben Kiernan has that DAWG in him. The fifth-year starter was LIT UP by Syracuse on Saturday afternoon and has a mangled facemask to prove it.
Kiernan, an Ireland-native, joined the Tar Heels as a true freshman in 2019. He averages about 44 yards per kick, which is about all you can ask from your punter.
Up until this weekend, Kiernan had mostly been able to stay out of harm’s way. North Carolina never called his number during his first four seasons. His rushing and passing statistics were nonexistent through the first 53 games of his career.
And then chaos struck on 4th-and-3 against the Orange. Kiernan lined up to punt at his own 25-yard-line, received the snap and got his kick away.
It was blocked. Syracuse got a hand on the ball to knock it back across the field.
Fortunately, Kiernan was in hot pursuit. He was able to scoop the loose ball up off of the bounce and took off down the sideline toward the first down marker, which was about 17 yards away.
16 of 17 yards were easy. The 17th? Not so much.
Kiernan lowered his shoulder to try and reach the line to gain. As he did, the Orange defender did the same.
North Carolina’s punter was mollywhopped. Crushed. Obliterated. Hammered. Rocked.
Although Kiernan gained the first down upon further review, the nasty slobberknocker left him with no sense of which way was up. He laid limp on the ground while trying to regain his surroundings.
Kiernan stayed in the game after the big hit because he is a DAWG. However, the equipment staff needed to make a change to his facemask before the next punt.
The one that Kiernan was wearing during the violent collision looked as if it had been through war. Bent is an understatement.
Saturday’s college football game against Syracuse is one that Kiernan will never forget. Unless he already forgot about the hit because of the hit. In that case, he has his former facemask to remind him of what happened.