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Punter Joey Roth MVP For Rutgers In Loss At Penn State

Rutgers punter Joey Roth at Penn State / Photo: Catalina Fragoso, Double G Sports

In a game where there weren’t many bright spots for Rutgers in their 28-3 loss this past Saturday night against Penn State, punter Joey Roth was the lone positive for the Scarlet Knights.

The Rutgers offense never got much of anything going, struggling to put drives together, and only mustering three points on the night. In turn, the Basking Ridge, N.J. native booted eight punts for 335 yards with an average of 41.9 yards per punt. He forced the Penn State returner into three fair catches, had one downed at the 10-yard line, and kicked one 51 yards. Having a punter that is able to boot the long ball, as well as be precise and coffin corner them near the goal line is not a lost art according to interim head coach Norries Wilson.

“I think every team’s punter is valuable, and Joe’s done a good job,” Wilson told me and other media member’s during his coaches teleconference Tuesday.” ”

The redshirt senior holds a 44.2 yards per punt average, good for fifth in the Big Ten Conference, on 12 punts totaling 530 yards. That mark is much improved from a a season ago where he played in eight games with six starts splitting time with then junior now senior Tim Gleeson averaging 36.3 yards per attempt with nine fair catches.

During the summer, head coach Kyle Flood assessed the punting competition between Roth, Gleeson, and redshirt freshman Michael Cintron. “I think Joe is ahead,” Flood said ten days into training camp this past August. “As we watch practice, I don’t need to see the film to know that, I think Joe is probably hitting it better than all those guys right now. He’s doing a nice job.”

Roth has handled all the punting duties so far this season with Gleeson named on the injury report, and the punter has performed well, including being the MVP for the Scarlet Knights against Penn State.

“He had some that weren’t great Saturday night, but he put together some good ones that helped us flip the field when we got a few drives going and try to get the field position back, Wilson said.

“(He’s) a valuable, valuable tool to have and we have a punter that can kick em’ down inside the 10 (yard line) and we can put the opponent on a long field.”

Roth also doubles as the holder on field goals and extra points.

Rutgers returns to High Point Solutions Stadium for their Homecoming matchup this Saturday at noon against the Kansas Jayhawks.

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