IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa sophomore punter Tory Taylor is one of 10 punters named a semifinalist for the 2021 Ray Guy Award. The announcement was made Wednesday by the Augusta Sports Council and the Ray Guy Award.
Taylor has been recognized on the Ray’s 8 list following three games, including contests versus Iowa State, Penn State, and Wisconsin.
Through nine games Taylor is averaging 45.8 yards per punt, with a long of 69 yards. He has 17 punts of at least 50 yards and has placed 28 punts inside the opponent 20. Hawkeye opponents have just 14 returns for 52 yards, while 15 have resulted in a fair catch. Just nine Taylor punts have been touchbacks.
Taylor (6-foot-4, 231-pounds) is a sophomore and a native of Melbourne, Australia. He averaged 49 yards on seven punts at Wisconsin, with a long of 61 yards. Three of his punts were downed inside the Wisconsin 20, including the 11, 14, and 13-yard lines. The Badgers had just one return for six yards.
In Iowa’s win at Iowa State Taylor averaged 51.1 yards on eight punts, with a long of 69 yards. Five of his punts were downed inside the 20, while Iowa State had just one punt return. In the win over Penn State, he averaged 44.2 yards per punt, with six punts inside the 20 and five inside the 10.
Taylor was named a first-team midseason All-American by The Athletic. He was the Big Ten Conference Special Teams Player of the Week following Iowa’s 27-17 win at Iowa State.
Iowa hosts Minnesota on Saturday (2:40 p.m., BTN). Saturday’s contest is sold out. Iowa closes the home season the following Saturday, hosting Illinois on Senior Day (1 p.m., FS1).