Herd punter gets another chance to play in hometown

Herd punter gets another chance to play in hometown

By Gary Fauber
Assistant Sports Editor
As bad as things got last year for Ian O’Connor the kicker, it was important for O’Connor the punter to re-emerge.

And not just because the senior wanted to make up for all that went wrong. There was no way O’Connor could picture himself wearing his Marshall uniform in his hometown of Knoxville, Tenn., only to be among the 100,000 spectators.

“It (becoming the punter) was something I put a lot of emphasis on in the summer,” O’Connor said. “I couldn’t imagine not playing in this game.”

After a horrible 2005 season in which he missed half of the field goals he attempted, O’Connor was relieved of his placekicking duties in favor of junior college transfer Anthony Binswanger. But O’Connor turned his attention back to punting — he did both as a sophomore — in the preseason and unseated Marty Biagi for the starting job.

So, one of the highlights of O’Connor’s senior year will be playing in his hometown for the second time in four seasons. Marshall (1-2) visits No. 15 Tennessee at 4 p.m. Saturday. The game will be televised on WVNS-59.

It will be the Herd’s first visit to Rocky Top since 2003, O’Connor’s freshman year.

“I couldn’t have planned it any better myself,” O’Connor said. “It’s going to be fun playing in front of what I still call my home crowd. I will know a lot of people there.”

Not that O’Connor wants to spend a lot of time on the field, since his presence would signify the Marshall offense’s inability to move the ball. But when the need for a punter arises, he’s happy to be the one coach Mark Snyder calls upon.

Thus far, O’Connor is having an up-and-down season. He is averaging 37.4 yards on 14 punts, five of them getting downed inside the 20-yard line and two going for touchbacks.

From a 23-yarder on his first punt of the year against West Virginia, to a 69-yard boot against Hofstra, O’Connor says he is still trying to find his rhythm.

“I definitely didn’t get off to the start I wanted at West Virginia,” he said. “I’m trying to get myself something to build on.”

The Herd had a punt blocked in last Saturday’s 23-7 loss at Kansas State, a rarity Snyder does not want to experience again.

“That’s the first punt block I’ve been around since 2001 (at Ohio State) — and I think we’re going to get that fixed,” Snyder said.

O’Connor, recruited as a kicker out of Halls High School, handled kickoffs as a true freshman when Marshall lost 34-24 to the Volunteers three years ago. The following season he kicked and punted and was successful at both. He converted 14 of 19 field goals, including a 52-yarder, and 31 of 33 extra point attempts, and averaged 40.4 yards per punt.

But it all unraveled last year. While Biagi took over the punting chores, O’Connor concentrated on placekicking. He wound up missing seven of his 14 attempts and got yanked in favor of true freshman David Defatta against Southern Miss on national television.

“It was tough,” O’Connor admitted. “I really only played two years of high school football and that was the first time I ever really faced a challenge as far as kicking and punting went.

“But I learned from it and it has made me a better person. I have tried to learn from it.”

He is applying that life experience each time he steps onto the field this season. That includes Saturday in front of a whole lot of Volunteers fans, but more than a few Ian O’Connor fans as well.

“It’s a good feeling knowing that I will be going out there in front of that crowd,” O’Connor said. “It’s a great environment to be in.”