Sometimes there’s a man — I won’t say a hero, because what’s a hero? — but sometimes there’s a man for his time and place. That man is Michael Dickson, a punter who may very well have won the Texas Bowl for the Texas Longhorns all by his damn self. A punter so good he’s declaring for the NFL draft early. A punter with a performance so legendary I can’t think of anything else to write except bastardized Big Lebowski lines because I just want to hit publish on this blog post so you can feel in this moment as I do.
Texas punter Michael Dickson was the MVP of the Texas Bowl
Look at this f***cking punter.
Look at this f***ing punter.
3:20 left in the 4th — Dickson punts for 34 yds, downed at the Missouri 4
1:20 left in the 3rd — Dickson punts for 58 yds, out-of-bounds at the Missouri 10
8:17 left in the 3rd — Michael Dickson punts for 48 yards, downed at the Missouri 2
10:31 left in the 1st — Dickson punts for 33 yards, downed at the Missouri 3
That’s just a sampling. Dickson punted 11 times during the game for 452 yards — a solid average of 41.1 yards per punt. More important than the average, however, was Dickson’s placement.
- 10 of those punts landed inside Mizzou’s 15-yard line.
- 7 landed inside the 10-yard line.
- 4 landed inside the 5-yard line.
- ZERO touchbacks.
And for those efforts, Dickson was named the Capital Player of the Game. Can you name the last time a punter was named the Player of the Game of a bowl game? I’ll tell you: 2008.
I gotta tell ya, that was a hell of a performance by Gano — five punts for 241 yards, all but one pinning Wisconsin inside the 10-yard line. But for pure volume and importance — Florida State would win by 29, Texas by 17 — I prefer Dickson’s for my money. Dickson punted for as many yards as a great offense and made life hell for a team that outgained the Longhorns by 108 yards and still lost.
Did you know that Dickson was born in Australia? Of course you did, because Australia makes the best punters. The only comparable performance was perhaps from another former Aussie Rules player, former LSU Tiger Brad Wing:
Dickson is a genuine article, however. Thank you, you beautiful punt man, for turning in what might be the best performance by a member of the Shoe Crew all year.
College football’s first bowl game was almost its last
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