When you get Bob Gregory, the special teams coordinator at the University of Washington, talking about a growing trend around college football, it almost sounds like he is pursuit of the perfect punter.
And Gregory thinks he knows where to go to find the new prototype.
Australia.
The Huskies will use their Aussie, Joel Whitford, a rugby-style punter, on Saturday. Whitford will see another one of his countrymen in an Oregon State uniform – Nick Porebski – as the No. 6 Huskies tangle with the Beavers.
There are more Australian connections coming. Half the Pac-12 programs have Australian punters on their rosters: Four of them —Michael Sleep-Dalton at Arizona State; Mitch Wishnowsky at Utah; Whitford at UW; and Porebski at Oregon State — are starters.