Hlas: Hawks’ Donahue: Rocket with deft touch

The following opinion may seem like madness given the phenomenal Iowa football career of Reggie Roby.

But Ryan Donahue could turn out to be the best punter the Hawkeyes have ever had.

Roby kicked holes in the Iowa and NCAA record books from 1980 to 1982. His 49.8 yards per punt in 1981 was an NCAA mark for 16 years.

He was - and this is meant in the best possible way - a freak. He had a prominent role in Hayden Fry's turning a perennial loser into a winner.

But what Donahue is doing in his junior season with the Hawkeyes may be even more valuable to a team.

He's co-Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week for his stellar work in Iowa's 27-17 win over Arizona. He averaged 51 yards on five punts. That's impressive enough, but two of the kicks were downed inside the Arizona 20-yard line and only one was returned, for 4 yards.

Think about that. Five punts, five blasts, no decent return allowed.

A popular sports term for that: Game-changer.

It isn't as if the Big Ten's weekly award is anything new for Donahue. This is the third-straight season he's earned one.

“It's a nice honor,” he said, “but this week I'm going to try and go out and do the same thing.”

The length of Donahue's kicks (44.6-yard average) this year is terrific, but his work has transcended that raw number. Nine of his 14 punts have been stopped inside the opponent's 20. That ratio is unworldly.

Only one Donahue punt has gone into the end zone for a touchback. Just four have been returnable, for a total of 5 measly yards.

Fry preferred Roby let it all hang out when punting. In that 1981 season, Fry left what he called “pooch kicks” to place-kicker Tom Nichol on 11 occasions.

Donahue does it all, and does it all quite well.

What a weapon. Not counting the times he is the holder for place-kicker Daniel Murray, Donahue has been involved in about five plays per game. Yet, you could argue few Hawkeyes have been as valuable given the way he has altered field position.

He is 12th nationally in punting average. But Iowa is fourth in a more meaningful category, net punting. That's thanks to someone who had to be persuaded to punt.

“I played football my freshman year of high school (at Chicago St. Rita's),” Donahue said. “I wasn't going to play my sophomore year.

“A guy named J.J. Standring came up to me. He punted at Northwestern from ‘97 to ‘01. He had just joined our staff. He said ‘We need a kicker.' I'm like ‘Why are you coming to me, I'm not very good.' He thought I had a good body type for kicking.

“J.J. has worked with me ever since, He's basically taught me everything I know about kicking and punting.”

Donahue made three of four field goal tries from 50-plus yards as a prep. His punting expertise developed more slowly.

“It was especially frustrating,” he said. “Starting to punt is not a fun thing to do. Obviously, you have to kick a spiral and it has to turn over to get a lot of distance on the ball. I couldn't do that for the first two or three months.”

He learned. He set an Illinois state playoff record with a 90-yard punt. He played in the U.S. Army All-American game for elite preps.

Now the Hawkeyes have a junior who says he wants to put every punt he attempts inside the foe's 20.

Even those he kicks from Iowa's end zone?

“Absolutely,” he said.

Don't put it past Donahue, opponents. Or he'll put it past you.