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Green Continues to Answer the Call, Dial Up Long Distance
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- Green Continues to Answer the Call, Dial Up Long Distance
Hunter Green shows off his punting flexibility. | Dave Szier photo
At 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, Hunter Green is taller and heavier than most college football punters.
He's also far more flexible than a majority of his peers across the FBS landscape, with his full extension on his long frame something to behold.
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Against USC, he was as responsible as anyone in a University of Washington football uniform for keeping the Huskies in the game with his booming fourth-down kicks.
"His ability to flip the field has been exceptionally good," UW coach Jedd Fisch said.
His towering punts seemingly entering LAX final-approach airspace clearly had the Trojans rattled at times.
In the first quarter, Green sent his second punt so high and so long -- covering 63 yards -- that Trojans' return man Terrell Anderson muffed it while retreating from his 5 to the goal line in a panic.
Luckily for the Trojans, disaster was averted when Trestin Castro wrestled the football away from the UW's Dylan Robinson and recovered it for his team on the USC 1. It was only temporary relief.
Hunter Green runs onto the field at Husky Stadium in pregame. | Dave Sizer photo
The Huskies forced a 3-and-out from the USC 4 and the ensuing Trojans punt set up the UW on its own 41. Eight plays later, Fisch's team took a 7-3 lead on Dezmen Roebuck's 5-yard touchdown pass to tight end Baron Naone, all compliments of Hunter Green.
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In the third quarter, Green did it again, sending a 47-yard punt to the USC 1, where his teammates covered it up against the goal line.
In all, Green rocketed six punts for 52, 63, 54, 50, 47 and 44 yards, good for a gaudy 51.7 average.
On the season, the son of a former and late Husky place-kicker and defensive back averages 47.7 yards per kick, with a long of 64.
Of his 24 punts, 10 of them have covered 50 yards or more, nine have landed inside the 20-yard line, eight have been fair caught and one has resulted in a touchback.
Formerly of Northern Coiorado and San Diego State, the Seattle-area product transferred back home to shore up one of the Huskies' weakest areas from 2025, where shanked punts under pressure repeatedly left opponents with good ield position.
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"He's been able to give such a long field back to the other team," Fisch said. "We talked about all week the biggest thing against SC is we wanted them to go the long way. I thought that Hunter has done a tremendous job in helping us do that."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/washington as Green Continues to Answer the Call, Dial Up Long Distance .
