Haydon Whitehead Gives Hoosiers a Leg Up in the Punt Game
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Written by Evan McShane
The Indiana Hoosiers don’t walk out of Madison, Wisconsin with a 14-6 victory if not for the spectacular performance from punter Haydon Whitehead. On Monday, Whitehead earned Big Ten Conference Player of the Week honors and was nationally recognized as one of ten semifinalists for the Ray Guy Award for best punter in the nation. “He was also our player of the game as well,” head coach Tom Allen said in praise of Whitehead.
Against Wisconsin Saturday, Whitehead drilled four punts inside the 20-yard line. He flipped the field multiple times in the first half, including one punt downed at the one-yard line at the end of the second quarter that helped Indiana hold the Badgers to just three points at halftime. To cap off a brilliant game, Whitehead’s final punt traveled 51 yards and pinned Wisconsin at their own 8-yard line, again making things all the more difficult for the Badgers’ offense. The Hoosier defense finished the job and IU notched its first win over Wisconsin since 2002 to add to an already historic season.
It’s been a long road for the Australian-born kicker, who made his first ever trip to the United States in 2016 when he visited Indiana University. Back then, head coach Tom Allen openly expressed his belief that Indiana football would become a force to be reckon with. Whitehead reflected on his first meeting with Allen compared to the success Indiana is currently having. “He’s been very open about building Indiana into one of those top programs, so while it was maybe a little bit surprising to people outside of the program—it isn’t surprising to us.”
Speaking of Indiana’s success earlier in the year after a win over Michigan, Whitehead explained, “This 3-0 start definitely isn’t surprising to us, it’s something we thought we could achieve and worked hard to achieve, so now that it’s happening it’s just a little bit of a reward for the hard work paying off.” Flash forward one month and the Hoosiers are 6-1 and ranked 8th in the AP Top-25 poll.
Whitehead has put together a storied career in Bloomington with 223 punts to date, 81 of them downed inside the 20-yard line, 37 punts downed inside the 10-yard line, and 15 punts downed inside the 5-yard line. As Indiana football experiences more success than they have in decades, its only appropriate that Whitehead is putting together his best season. Nine of his 36 punts have been downed inside the 20-yard line and six of them have travelled 50+ yards. In 2020, opponents have only returned two of Whitehead’s punts for a total of just 14 yards.
Before Tom Allen took over the Indiana football program, special teams was always a major concern. One of Allen’s first duties was to go get a punter, and he couldn’t have found a better one than Whitehead. As one of the most experience players on the roster, Whitehead explained, “I just try to be a positive influence off the field, in the weight room, all of those types of things you would expect from someone that’s been here for four years.”
The graduate student has come into his own as a mentor, setting an example on and off the field. “I definitely have consciously tried to step up into a little bit more of a leadership role,” Whitehead told reporters. The Hoosiers will need Whitehead’s consistency in the kicking game to finish the season strong and pick up their first bowl win since 1991. For Haydon Whitehead, the conference and national honors are just icing on the cake.