IU Punter James Evans Provides Special Teams Bright Spot Against Ohio State

Written by: Zachary Greene 

Coming from halfway across the world James Evans dream was to play college football and beyond and his dream is coming to fruition. Growing up in Auckland, New Zealand Evan’s never played any type of football until joining the Hoosiers program in 2021. In spite of this, Evans impressed and continued to build his impressive resume.

Last season, as a sophomore he started all 12 games. He holds the program record for punt average at 43.1 yards and he continued to build on that,  averaging a whooping 54.2 yards per punt.

His long punt of the day came at the end of the fourth quarter. It was a 60-yard roller downed at the Ohio State 11-yard line. He booted four punts over 50 yards.

“He was excellent today. He works his tail off. Every year he just keeps getting better. So I'm really proud of him.” Allen said. “(He’s a) big weapon for us. And obviously he's got to do his job consistently well. And it helps us flip the field. So we got to have everybody doing their job at a high level to win in this conference.”

Evans powerful leg will come in handy this season. It will flip the field for the Hoosiers and squeeze opposing offenses into their own end zone.

Indiana defensive coordinator Matt Guerrieri told Allen when he joined the program over the winter that “that's the best punter I've ever seen on any team I've ever been a part of.”

His performance today was over looked, but in order to win meaningful games going forward stats such as punt average and and downing the ball inside the opponents’ 20-yard line will be crucial for the program.