Hornsey Named National Punter of the Week

The rest of the nation is beginning to acknowledge what University of Memphis followers have known for quite some time: junior punter Tom Hornsey is very special at what he does.

The University announced today that Hornsey has been named the National Punter of the Week by the College Football Performance Awards after averaging 46.8 yards per punt Saturday night against Arkansas State in a 33-28 loss on the road.

Hornsey had seven of his eight punts downed inside A-State's 20-yard line, which included a staggering four punts downed inside the 10.

The Geelong, Victoria, Australia, native currently ranks 14th in the country in punting average with a 45.92 yards per punt mark.

Through two games he has placed 10 of his punts inside opponents' 20-yard line and seven of those 10 have been downed inside the 10. This puts Hornsey in the discussion for best punter in the NCAA FBS series, as no player ahead of Hornsey in punting average has as many punts downed inside the 20.

Hornsey is entering his third consecutive year as the Tigers' punter. Entering this season, on his career he had played in 24 games with 175 punts for 7,409 yards (42.3 yards per punt). The 175 punts placed him fifth on the U of Memphis/Memphis State career list, and the 7,409 total yards ranked him fourth.

His career-long punt went for 66 yards.

The 10 punts he has had downed inside the opponents' 20-yard line moves him to a healthy 57 on his career. He has only had one punt blocked; that punt, however, led to a fumble by the receiving team, and the Tigers ironically retained possession.

Hornsey had never played a single down of American football before being signed to a scholarship by former Tiger coach Larry Porter.

The Tigers are in action again Saturday night at the Liberty Bowl versus Middle Tennessee State.