One thing we can all agree on about Saturday's season opener against South Dakota State? Tory Taylor was absolutely outstanding and punt on a spectacular display of punting, which was essential to enabling Iowa to grind out a 7-3 win over the Jackrabbits. (Okay, two things we could agree on: the Iowa defense was also excellent. But this post is just about Taylor!)
Turns out the Big Ten also agrees that Taylor was phenomenal on Saturday; they named him Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week in recognition of this efforts.
#B1GFootball : Tory Taylor, @HawkeyeFootball
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) September 5, 2022
Registered a career-high 10 punts for 479 yards, averaging 47.9 yards per attempt to pin the Jackrabbits deep in their own territory
For more: https://t.co/IisEnGINB8 pic.twitter.com/rskCTERTJz
It was, you know, a pretty preposterous day. 479 yards punting?! 10 punts?! That's entirely too much punting, and we appreciate punting. But if you're going to punt that much, you damn well better make sure you're good at it, and Taylor wasn't just good at it -- he was great at it. Just watch:
Fill in the blank: @torytaylor09 is _________.#ForTheBrand x @HawkeyeFootball pic.twitter.com/iHHOtrhI4A
— Iowa On BTN (@IowaOnBTN) September 3, 2022
Absurd! Seven of Taylor's punts were downed inside the 20-yard line. Five were downed inside the 10-yard line and three were downed inside the 5-yard line, including one expertly trapped by Cooper DeJean on the 1-yard line, which set up Jack Campbell's game-winning safety a play later.
One other thing that's nice? Taylor's family will be able to watch him in action in an Iowa game in person for the first time ever this weekend:
Iowa punter and Australian native Tory Taylors family will be in town next weekend for the Iowa State vs. Iowa game.
— David Eickholt (@DavidEickholt) September 3, 2022
First time his family will be able to see him play.
That's pretty cool. We hope he's able to uncork a few dazzling punts for them (but, hopefully, not like 10 of them -- that's still too many punts in one game).
Tory Taylor was an absolute beast on Saturday and we're very happy to see the Big Ten recognize his efforts. Congratulations, Tory, and job very well done. #Tory4Heisman
