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USC punter Eddie Czaplicki wins program’s first Ray Guy Award

December 13, 2024

LOS ANGELES — He had felt his best, always, when the eyes of a stadium trained directly on him. And when the fourth quarter dawned in Pasadena in late November, USC’s offense stuck in the mud again, Eddie Czaplicki lined up in punt formation and fell into sheer Zen.

He had prepared for this, since an offseason dedicated to maximizing every Newton of force in his right leg. He had trimmed his nutrition and honed his sleep. He had drilled hand work, and muscle memory, multiple times per week. And come this fourth-and-22 against UCLA, no amount of baby-blue Bruin noise could rattle Czaplicki, drawing back his leg and sending another boot end over end through Southern California night air.

USC’s Makai Lemon downed Czaplicki’s punt at the 1-yard line, the highlight of a season of field-flipping highlights.

“Just, no doubt about everything I’m doing right now,” Czaplicki said after USC’s 19-13 victory over UCLA, grinning before he said the quiet part out loud.

“By far and away,” he continued, “the best in the country right now.”

It was a sentiment USC’s program had been touting, unofficially, for weeks, Czaplicki in the midst of a punting season for the ages. And on Thursday night, his status was minted: Czaplicki was named the winner of the Ray Guy Award, given annually to the best punter in the nation.

The senior is the first Ray Guy winner in USC’s long history, no punter in the program taking home the award since Trojans football began in 1888, the silver lining of an otherwise frustrating season for the program. Czaplicki averaged 48.5 yards on 40 punts in 2024, the third-highest mark in the nation. He led the nation in percentage of punts inside the 20-yard line for players with a minimum of 30 attempts. Twenty-four of his punts have been downed inside the 20, nine have been inside the 10 and four were downed inside the 5-yard line.

More impressive than the raw stats, too, was the sheer fact that Czaplicki was quite simply one of the most clutch players in the country.

With USC battling late in the fourth quarter of a loss to Michigan, Czaplicki pinned the Wolverines inside their own 15-yard-line twice in the final nine minutes. With USC battling late in the fourth quarter of a loss to Maryland, Czaplicki pinned the Terrapins at their 3-yard line with less than seven minutes to go. And Czaplicki’s boot against UCLA set in motion a grind-it-out win, as a subsequent defensive stop led to the go-ahead, fourth-quarter touchdown.

“It’s definitely affected some of our decision-making, because it has been such a consistent weapon,” head coach Lincoln Riley said of Czaplicki’s success, in mid-November. “I mean, I don’t know how you could have a better year than what he’s having right now.”

No punter, could, really. And the trophy Thursday night solidified it, an all-time season at Czaplicki’s position etched forever into Trojans lore.

Orange County Register

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USC punter Eddie Czaplicki wins program’s first Ray Guy Award

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