This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Same punts, different leg.
Utah sophomore punter http://bit.ly/2dw13WQ";>Mitch Wishnowsky has more than picked up where his predecessor, Tom Hackett, left off on special teams. Now, the Aussie who has led the nation since the start of the season in punt average will have a chance to bring the Ray Guy Award back to Salt Lake City for a third straight year.
http://rayguyaward.com/";>Wishnowsky was named as a Ray Guy semifinalist on Monday afternoon, alongside Michael Dixon of Texas and Cameron Johnston of Ohio State.
The 24-year-old from Western Australia has earned weekly Ray Guy honors for the nation's best punter three times this year, and has been the special teams player of the week twice in the Pac-12, including this week following a loss to Oregon.
He's averaging a nation's best 48.6 yards per punt, leads the country with 14 punts inside the 10-yard line and has kicked seven inside the opposing 5. Of his 54 punts, 31 have landed inside the 20-yard line. He's had 26 punts of 50 yards or more.
Wishnowsky has not punted a touchback since his first career game against Southern Utah.
http://bit.ly/1OWCmxh";>Hackett won the last two Ray Guy Awards and was a two-time consensus All-American for the Utes, and was honored as the Pac-12 All-Century team punter last year. Wishnowsky, however, is already besting Hackett's best year in punt average (48.0).
All three 2016 Ray Guy semifinalists are Australian natives.
kgoon@sltrib.com
Twitter: @kylegoon