St. Peter, Minn. – Gustavus Adolphus junior punter Jordan Rudenick (Nicollet, Minn.) has been named the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Special Teams Player-of-the-Week for his outstanding performance in Saturday’s 35-26 win over Simpson College.
Making his debut as the starting punter, Rudenick gave the Gusties the advantage in the field-position battle throughout the afternoon. He punted six times for a total of 290 yards, averaging 48.3 yards per punt. Rudenick’s per punt average on Saturday ranks second in Gustavus football history, falling just shy of Brian Ehlenfeldt’s school record 48.7-yard average achieved on Sept. 27, 1986 against Hamline.
Rudenick’s most important stat of the day was not his total yardage or average, but where his punts were downed. Over course of the game, the junior recorded five punts that ended up inside the 20-yard line, becoming the first Gustie punter to accomplish such a feat in the last 25 years. In the second quarter, he coffin-cornered the Storm on the one-yard line and two-yard line on consecutive kicks. He later boomed a 62-yarder against the wind to pin Simpson on its on 15 in the third quarter. The Nicollet native capped the afternoon with another punt downed on at the two-yard line in the fourth quarter.
Rudenick currently ranks second in both NCAA Division III and the MIAC in punting after one game. No other punter in the MIAC has downed more than three punts inside the 20-yard line so far this season.
The Gustavus football team heads into its second game of the season with a 1-0 record for the first time since 2008. The Gusties will open up MIAC play on Saturday with their home-opener against Augsburg at 1:00 p.m. Augsburg, who was off last weekend, enters Saturday’s contest at 1-0 as well.