Nittany Lions' punter grabs tiny piece of the spotlight

Jeremy Boone is enough of a realist to understand that his occasional appearances on the field are not going to be greeted with wild enthusiasm from Penn State fans.

Unlike placekickers, who at least can offer the possibility of a consolation-prize three points whenever their team's offense bogs down in an opponent's territory, punters mostly represent failure. They only enter the game when a drive stalls or, worse, never gets going. A punt is less than a consolation prize; it is the momentary white flag of surrender.

The greatest punter ever, former Oakland/Los Angeles Raider Ray Guy, has yet to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, further evidence that even those with terrific distance and hang times can be left twisting in the wind as far as recognition of their contributions to the game is concerned.

But those groans of disappointment - how come we didn't pick up that first down on third-and-2 - can be upgraded in a hurry if the punter drops one inside the other team's 5-yard line, or helps gets his team out of danger with a boomer from out of his own end zone. Football is a game of field position, not unlike chess, and a skilled punter can turn a disadvantageous situation into a positive with a swing of his leg.

Boone, now in his third season as the Nittany Lions' punter, played enough of a role in Saturday's 35-17 Big Ten victory at Illinois that he was named the conference's Special Teams Player of the Week, sharing the honor with Northwestern placekicker Stefan Demos. It is the first time Boone, a 5-9, 168-pounder from Mechanicsburg, Pa., had been so singled out.

It wasn't just that Boone averaged 49.5 yards on his four punts, boosting his Big Ten-leading average to 48.8. It was the way he mixed precision with power. His 66-yard rocket in the first quarter, the third-longest punt of his career, was downed at the Illini 3-yard line, and another punt in the first half was downed at the 1.

As impressive as his award-worthy performance was, the senior-eligible graduate student did not allow himself much time to bask in the recognition. The 14th-ranked Nits (4-1) host Football Championship Subdivision foe Eastern Illinois (4-1) Saturday afternoon in Beaver Stadium, and the punts of the previous week, good or bad, of necessity have to be promptly stored where they belong, in the past.