Iowa’s Tory Taylor Breaks 85-Year-Old National Punting Record
Iowa has put punter Tory Taylor to work frequently this season. The Melbourne, Australia, native has booted the pigskin 86 times in 2023—the most punts in the nation, and six more than second-place Navy punter Riley Riethman.
On Monday, he set a new college football record to show for his long hours.
Taylor’s 62-yard punt with 12:55 left in the first quarter of the Citrus Bowl between the Hawkeyes and Tennessee gave him a major college football-record 4,181 punting yards. That broke an 85-year-old record set by Hall of Fame former Michigan State halfback and punter John Pingel in 1938.
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Pingel, a skilled passer and runner on top of his punting skills, registered 4,138 yards via foot for a 6–3 Spartans team—an average of 459.8 yards per game.
Iowa’s special teams have been a source of national fascination this season; one Big Ten coach even voted Taylor as the winner of the conference's Player of the Year award.