By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Tory Taylor certainly doesn’t need me lobbying for him to win the Ray Guy Award, but I’ll do it anyway because he deserves to win it.

From a statistical standpoint, and from a circumstantial standpoint, Iowa’s 26-year-old punter from Melbourne, Australia deserves to be honored as the best collegiate punter in the nation.

Taylor is among three finalists for the award, along with Matthew Hayball from Vanderbilt and Alex Mastromanno from Florida State.

All three finalists, not surprisingly, are from Australia and represent a new wave of punters from down under that are making a huge impact in the college game.

All three also have performed at a very high level throughout the season, obviously, or they wouldn’t be in position to win the award.

Taylor has just been slightly better under tough circumstances.

And while some might accuse me of having a Hawkeye bias in this case, that isn’t what is influencing my opinion.

Taylor has punted 79 times this season, which leads the nation, for an average of 47.7 yards per attempt. He has 31 punts that have traveled at least 50 yards and 29 that have been downed inside the 20-yard line.

Hayball has punted 58 times this season for a 47.6 average, with 25 of his punts having been downed inside the 20.

Mastromanno has punted 52 times this season for a 45.9 average, with 22 of his punts having been downed inside the 20.

So, just from a statistical standpoint, Taylor has a slight edge over both his fellow Australia natives.

But my endorsement goes beyond just statistics.

Taylor also deserves the award for what he means to his team from a strategy standpoint.

His ability to flip field position, and to pin opponents deep in their own territory is one of the biggest reasons why Iowa will face Michigan in the Big Ten Championship game on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

A strong case could be made for Taylor being Iowa’s most valuable player, and rarely is that said about a punter.

Taylor has been burdened with trying to compensate for an Iowa offense that has been ranked at or near the bottom nationally in multiple statistical categories throughout the season.

He has punted 27 more times than Mastromanno has this season, and 21 more times than Hayball has this season.

Taylor also has had to punt in worse weather conditions compared to the two other finalists who attend college in Tennessee and Florida.

In fact, the chance to punt for a school in the Midwest is part of what attracted Taylor to Iowa.

He figured if he could excel in adverse weather that it would make a strong impression on NFL scouts and head coaches.

“That’s why I wanted to come to the Big Ten and perform in the crappier weather,” Taylor said. “But at the same time, you’ve got to be able to hit balls wherever you’re going. But I’m sure it’ll help me moving forward.

“When I first got here, I was like, ‘oh, man this is cold.’ But I kind of love those games because it really separates those guys between the good and great ones and who actually really wants to be out there.”

Mastromanno has the luxury of punting for a Florida State squad that is undefeated, while Hayballl punted for a Vanderbilt team that finished 2-10 overall and 0-8 in the Southeastern Conference.

Taylor has been so impressive as a Hawkeye punter that some now believe he is the best punter in program history.

And that’s saying a lot considering the legendary Reggie Roby used to punt for the Hawkeyes and played a key role in Hayden Fry’s rebuilding job in the early 1980s.

The thought of comparing anybody to Roby was silly until Taylor arrived.

As great as Roby was as a punter, he didn’t handle pooch punts for Iowa, whereas Taylor handles everything, along with being the holder on field goals.

Taylor has performed at such a high level throughout his four-year Hawkeye career that fans actually get excited when he takes the field to punt, even though it means the offense has just failed to sustain a drive.

That’s the ultimate compliment for any punter.