Ranking The Top Kickers And Punters
In case you hadn’t been following along, the Pac-12 as we know and love is about to change forever. With both UCLA and USC heading to the Big 10 the league is losing two of its marquee schools. In fact with the way things are changing by the time you finish this another school may leave or join. For today let’s celebrate the current league by continuing our look at the top players. Our look at the Pac-12’s Top Returning Specialists starts with the kickers.
Fourth Best Returning Kicker
Everett Hayes– Oregon State- As a sophomore, Hayes finished sixth in the Pac-12 with 84 points. Those came on a perfect 48 of 48 extra points and 12 of 18 field goals. Hayes connected on a 60-yard field goal as time expired against Colorado sending the game into overtime. In addition, he made a 52-yarder against Arizona State. That made him the first Beavers’ kicker to make two 50-plus yard field goals since Alexis Serna in 2007.
Third Best Returning Kicker
Cole Becker– Colorado- As a freshman, Becker made all 25 of his extra points and 14 of 20 field goals. That placed him second in the league in the latter. Coming out of high school the Kohl’s National Scholarship Camp ranked him as the number one kicker in the class.
We are halfway through our countdown of kickers in our Pac-12’s Top Returning Specialists. Let’s continue on with the top two.
Second Best Returning Kicker
Camden Lewis– Oregon- The junior led the Pac-12 with 55 extra points in 2021. He also lead the league back in 2019 with 57. Lewis finished the year as a second-team All-Pac 12 selection. For his career he’s made 127 out of 130 extra points and 23 of 34 field goals. In addition, he’s had 68 touchbacks and even has two tackles for his career.
Top Returning Pac-12 Kicker
Dean Janikowski– Washington State- Since we know you are going to ask, despite the last name and the fact he’s a kicker Dean is not related to Florida State legend Sebastian Janikowski. As a redshirt freshman, he converted on 42 of 44 extra points and 12 of 14 field goals. That placed him second in the league. Janikowski was named Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the week after making four field goals and all four extra points in a win over Washington. An All-Pac 12 first-team selection in 2021 he starts on top in 2o22.
Now that we’ve looked at the Pac-12’s top returning kickers let’s move to the punters and count down the best returning punters.
Third Best Returning Punter
Nick Haberer– Washington State- As a freshman Haberer averaged nearly 43 yards a punt for the Cougars. Of his 52 punts 28 resulted in fair catches while 14 landed inside the 2o. As a result, he was named to the FFWA Freshman All-American team. The Australia native was also named to the PFF All True-Freshman team.
Second Best Returning Punter
Luke Loecher– Oregon State- In 13 games last season Loecher set a school record averaging 47 yards per punt. Furthermore his career average of 45.8 yards is the highest in OSU history. He finished the year with 10 punts of more than 50 yards and 13 downed inside the 20. That includes a career-long 72-yarder against Purdue.
The Pac-12’s Top Returning Punter
Kyle Ostendorp– Arizona- At 1-11 2021 was a year to forget for the Wildcats. However, in the words of Steve Spurrier “they’ve got a heck of a punter.” Ostendorp averaged a whopping 49.2 yards per punt last season. That not only led the Pac-12 but set an Arizona school record. He had a league-best 28 punts of more than 50 yards and 17 inside the 20. Not surprisingly he was named first-team All Pac-12, the first Wildcat punter to gain the honor since Keenyn Crier in 2007.
Thanks for checking out the Pac-12’s Top Returning Specialists here at Last Word On College Football. Did we leave someone off our list or is someone ranked too high or low? Drop a comment in the section below or on our twitter page. Opening day is getting closer and Last Word will have you covered during the 2022 season.
