WATCH: The first points of the 2021 college football season
The 2021 college football season has officially arrived. Illinois and Nebraska got things underway on the first college football Saturday of the season. The first points of this college football season came in a very unique way following an impressive punt from Illinois’ Blake Hayes.
The first points of the year in college football came on a safety
After Illinois’ offensive drive stalled around midfield, Blake Hayes came in to punt. Hayes then rocketed a 59-yard punt which landed inside the five, forcing Nebraska’s Cam Taylor-Britt into a tough decision. Taylor-Britt decided to field the ball, but he slipped backwards towards the endzone. Originally, it appeared as if Taylor-Britt made an illegal forward pass while he was in the endzone, resulting in a safety.
After review, it was ruled that Taylor-Britt’s knee was down on the goal line, and the ball was not across the plane. The play still resulted in a safety, giving Illinois a 2-0 lead with 4:07 remaining in the first quarter.
Hayes has already shown that he is a great punter for Illinois. The Australia native rocketed a 50-yard punt on Illinois’ first offensive drive of the game. The ball again landed inside the five and rolled out of bounds at the one-yard line. The punt put Nebraska in tough field position.
Hayes is a fifth-year senior this season for Illinois. He leads Illinois in multiple all-time punting categories. Hayes’ average of 43.4 yards per punt ranks second in school history. He is the all-time Illinois leader with 258 total punts, 11,207 punt yards, and 91 punts inside the 20-yard line. In 2019, Hayes was named the Big Ten Punter of the Year.
While punters don’t usually get a lot of attention across football, Hayes gets the distinction for being at least partly responsible for the initial points of the 2021 college football season.