Tory Taylor named Big Ten’s Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year
Tory Taylor is a beloved figure among Hawkeye fans. Now, he’s immortalized as the only Big Ten punter to be named the Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year twice in their career.
Taylor also won the award as a freshman in 2020. The 6-foot-4, 232 pound punter from Melbourne, Australia, leads the Big Ten and ranks third nationally with an average of 47.7 yards per punt. Only Boise State’s James Ferguson-Reynolds (50.08 yards per punt) and BYU’s Ryan Rehkow (48.37 yards per punt) rank higher than Taylor.
Taylor’s 79 punts on the season is tops nationally. Thirty-one of Taylor’s punts have gone for 50 or more yards and five for 60-plus. Taylor has pinned opponents inside their 20-yard line on 29 occasions this season, inside their 10-yard line on 11 occasions and inside their 5-yard line on six occasions.
In his career, Taylor has punted 281 times for 12,944 yards or 46.1 yards per punt. A whopping 44.1% or 124 of his punts have been downed inside opponents’ 20-yard lines. Each of the past three seasons Taylor has set an Iowa single-season punting record with 3,688, 3,725 and 3,766 yards, respectively.
Never a doubt ‼️
Tory Taylor is your Eddleman-Fields B1G Punter of the Year.#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/8zlF1KuKxV
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) November 28, 2023
Taylor has been a field-flipping machine for the Hawkeyes and an integral piece in Iowa’s successes over the last four seasons and 10-2 mark and trip to the Big Ten Championship game here in 2023.
“Just really happy for everybody that’s been recognized. They certainly work hard. It’s not easy to play at this level, certainly, or coach at this level. All those guys have done a great job performing,” Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said at his Tuesday press conference of his award winners.
It isn’t just the punting from Taylor either. Ferentz highlighted Taylor’s work as a holder for Iowa’s field goal units and how he helped set senior kicker Marshall Meeder up for the game-winning 38-yarder against Nebraska.
“The last field goal, Tory did a heck of a job. Snap was low. Great placement. Emblematic of his growth, too, not just as punter, but everything he does, he’s doing it really well,” Ferentz said.
Taylor’s talents will be on display from Lucas Oil Stadium in the Big Ten Championship this Saturday, Dec. 2 beginning at 7:15 p.m. CT on Fox as the Hawkeyes do battle against No. 2 Michigan.
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