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10 seconds of dominance: Tory Taylor shares mindset of Iowa’s special teams unit
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In Week 1, Iowa defeated South Dakota State, 7-3. The defense and special teams won the game for the Hawkeyes, as all 7 points came from 2 safeties and a FG.
Iowa also called on punter Tory Taylor 10 times, a player who turned out to be a huge defensive weapon. Taylor’s game was extraordinary, and he pinned back the Jackrabbits back with 479 yards off his punts.
Seven of the punts were downed inside the 20-yard line, and 5 were downed inside the 10-yard line.
The Hawkeyes are 6-1 since the beginning of the 2020 season when punting 8 or more times in a game, and no other FBS team has more than 2 wins when punting that much. It’s something that works for the Hawkeyes and Taylor.
For Taylor, it’s a fairly simple game plan. During Tuesday’s media session, Taylor revealed the special teams unit is simply focused on being dominant in 10-second stretches when called upon.
Keeping it simple sure works for Taylor and the Hawkeyes:
The Iowa punt team's mentality, per great punter Tory Taylor: “I told Luke Elkin, our long snapper, ‘We’ve just got to go out there for 10 seconds and dominate.’ There’s not much else to it.”
Taylor pinned 5 kicks inside the 10 last week and another at the 12.
— Chad Leistikow🆑 (@ChadLeistikow) September 6, 2022
Can the Hawkeyes punt their way to another victory? We’ll see as Iowa faces off against Iowa State this Saturday.