Pardula Earns National Honors and Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week Award
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas kicker/punter Trevor Pardula is being rewarded for his game-changing performance in the Jayhawks’ win over Louisiana Tech Saturday as he was named the Ray Guy Award Player of the Week, College Football Performance Awards Punter of the Week and was also named Special Teams Player of the Week by the Big 12 Conference.
Pardula, a native of San Jose, Calif., came up huge for the Jayhawks in their win over Louisiana Tech. He set a Kansas record for punting average in a game after averaging 57.6 yards on five punts in the game. He recorded a career-long 78-yard punt in the third quarter, which tied for eighth-longest in school history and was the longest Jayhawk boot since Rich Reith hit a 78-yarder on Oct. 18, 1986. His 78-yarder is tied for the fourth longest in the NCAA this season.
Later in the third quarter, Pardula added a 65-yard punt. Prior to the win over Louisiana Tech, his previous best was a 59-yarder against Rice. Pardula now leads the Big 12 and ranks second nationally in punting average at 49.7 yards. Additionally, three of his five punts were downed inside the 20-yard line.
Pardula also handled kick off duties for KU, recording one touchback on his three kickoffs. The Kansas kickoff coverage team stopped the Louisiana Tech returner short of the 20 yard line on the other two kickoffs providing the KU defense with good starting field position.
Though he has only played in three games in his Kansas career thus far, Pardula’s presence has made an immediate impact for the Jayhawks. He has a total of seven punts of more than 50 yards, one short of last year’s season total of eight and on kickoffs Pardula has seven total touchbacks through three games, the entire season total for the Jayhawks from a year ago.
Pardula is the first Kansas player to be honored by the Big 12 Conference in its weekly awards since D.J. Beshears was tabbed Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 10, 2011.
The Augusta Sports Council presents the Ray Guy Award, given to the collegiate punter of the year at The Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN in Orlando, Fla. In addition to having strong punting statistics, the winner must display team leadership, self-discipline and have a positive impact on the team’s success.
The College Football Performance Awards are based on objective scientific rankings of the extent to which individual players increase the overall effectiveness of their teams.
Pardula and his KU teammates will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 5 when the Jayhawks play host to Texas Tech at Memorial Stadium at 11 a.m., on FOX Sports 1. The game will mark the annual Homecoming game at KU. Tickets are available by calling 800-34-HAWKS or by visiting KUAthletics.com.
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