Blake Hayes: P · Illinois · #14.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Illinois’s specialists
Blake Hayes
Flips the field and drops it inside the 20 — no weakness to punt around. Played for three head coaches at Illinois: Lovie Smith, Rod Smith and Bret Bielema. That makes four straight seasons on the honors list: All-Big Ten again in 2021.
Play style
Flips the field and drops it inside the 20 — no weakness to punt around.
Punter archetype · season enumeration
Leg vs placement
45.1 gross, but 34 of 68 inside the 20 (50.0%) — a pinner. pinner
Net average is unavailable — no per-punt return-yardage linkage exists in the source data.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
LancasterOnline Oct 25
Yahoo Sports Oct 25Game log · Week-by-week
2021 season · 12 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | PUNT | YDS | AVG | LONG | IN20 | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 30-22vs Nebraska | 6 | 272 | 45.3 | 59 | 4 | |
| Wk 1 | L 30-37vs UTSA | 5 | 245 | 49.0 | 56 | 4 | |
| Wk 2 | L 14-42@ Virginia | 7 | 300 | 42.9 | 53 | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 17-20vs Maryland | 7 | 302 | 43.1 | 58 | 3 | |
| Wk 4 | L 9-13@ Purdue | 6 | 291 | 48.5 | 80 | 4 | |
| Wk 5 | W 24-14vs Charlotte | 1 | 39 | 39.0 | 39 | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 0-24vs Wisconsin | 7 | 326 | 46.6 | 58 | 3 | |
| Wk 8 | W 20-18@ No. 7 Penn State | 4 | 172 | 43.0 | 47 | 3 | |
| Wk 9 | L 14-20vs Rutgers | 8 | 355 | 44.4 | 57 | 3 | |
| Wk 10 | W 14-6@ Minnesota | 7 | 306 | 43.7 | 52 | 4 | |
| Wk 12 | L 23-33@ No. 18 Iowa | 7 | 331 | 47.3 | 59 | 3 | |
| Wk 13 | W 47-14vs Northwestern | 3 | 129 | 43.0 | 48 | 3 | |
| Total | 68 | 3068 | 45.1 | 80 | 34 |
Season context: team record and system
Punter profile · Distance and placement
Where his punts land, not just how far
Inside the 20
50%34 of 68Touchback rate
3%2 of 68Yards / punt
45.168 puntsLong
80yards45.1 yards/punt on 68 punts · 50% placed inside the 20 · 2 touchbacks.
Illinois carries two punters; Hayes has taken all 68 punts.
How it ended
Five seasons at Illinois, a first-team All-Conference season (2019) — the college career is complete.
Recruited as a two-star, and honored since.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-BIG TEN · 1ST TEAM
All-Big Ten 1st team (2019)
Weekly recognition
2 weekly honors (2021)
Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week
Coaching lineage · 2017–2021
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Lovie Smith → Bret Bielema. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
From Melbourne, VIC — one of 84 Australians punting in FBS this season.
