Punter Adam Korsak enjoyed his first college football season at Rutgers
Rutgers punter Adam Korsak got his first taste of both American football and college football this season for the very first time. The sophomore from Melbourne, Australia has played in all 11 games and has been one of the top punters in the conference.
Korsak has punted 70 times this season for a total of 2,984 yards. His average of 42.6 yards per punt is good for 36th in the country. Korsak has had nine punts go for over 50 yards. His longest against Northwestern went for a whopping school-record 79 yards.
“It’s been great,” Korsak said of his first college football experience. “I’ve enjoyed the season even though we didn’t get the results that we wanted. It’s been awesome. The first game I played in, we beat Texas State and that was an amazing experience. I’ve felt like I’ve adjusted week by week pretty well.”
The punt coverage unit on special teams for Rutgers ranks 33rd in the nation allowing just 5.68 yards per return. A lot of that has to do with the style Korsak uses to punt the ball and his accuracy, but he said the gunners have done an unbelievable job getting down the field and making the tackles.
“There’s been great buy-in with the unit. We spend a lot of time on punt coverage. We’ve been able to get positive results with the work that we put in,” Korsak said. “All of the gunners like Timmy Barrow, Kessawn Abraham, Zihir Lacewell and everyone that’s rotated through in that spot as done very well.”
That special teams buy-in is real. In the middle of the interview with TKR, Barrow came and surprised Korsak with a hug and laughs trying to break his concentration.
“The way I see it is, sometimes they bail me out when I kick a bad ball. If it wasn’t for their effort to get down the field every single time, we wouldn’t get the results that we have. They’re huge. It’s exciting,” Korsak said.
Unlike traditional punters who kick a high spiral, Korsak utilizes the rugby style of punting where he runs off to the side and kicks the ball. Aside from his stellar ability to flip the field with longer punts, he’s been able to have great control. Nineteen of his punts were downed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
Korsak believes the rugby style of punting is much better than regular punting.
“Yeah, I’m biased because I’m Australian, but I think it is more of an advantageous kick just because you buy a little more time. I feel like we’re able to kick it to more spots on the field outside the numbers and be more accurate. The hangtime isn’t has much as a normal spiral kick would be, so the get-off and the feeling of the rush coming toward you is important where you can buy an extra second when you can,” Korsak said.
In late October, Korsak was named to the Ray Guy Award watch list. The Ray Guy Award is given annually to the country’s top punter. While he didn’t make the cut and wasn’t selected as a semifinalist, it meant a lot to him that he was selected to the watch list.
“I did know about it. For the last six years, Australians have won that award,” Korsak said. “This year, two of the three finalists are from ProKick Australia. There’s been a lot of success for Australian punters for that award. To get named on the watch list was exciting. But, it’s not just me, it’s the whole unit. It’s a collective effort.”
An interesting note about Korsak is he’s been given the nickname of “Cheetah” by the team.
“It’s because I’m the quickest guy on the team,” Korsak said. “The coaches call me that. It’s a good one.”
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisWasky.