Australian college punter goes viral as he shows off insane skills

An Australian punter has sent American fans into meltdown as he put on a punting masterclass on Sunday that captured national attention.

Aussie punting ace Jesse Mirco has left jaws on the floor as he showcased his incredible skills on Sunday.

Playing for the Ohio State Buckeyes, Mirco showed why Aussie’s do it better in the third quarter as he punted from the 50-yard line.

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Mirco produced a centimetre perfect punt that landed on the one-yard line before instantly bouncing out of bounds.

The commentary crew calling the game called for a “little wedge shot” and Mirco delivered leaving them laughing at the absurdity of the punt.

“That’s beautiful,” one member said.

“Yeah that’s perfect. He was right on cue,” another proclaimed as laughs broke out.

The Buckeyes proved far too strong for Toledo, going on to record a ridiculous 77-21 victory in front of 105.398 fans.

Currently the third ranked college football team in the country, the Buckeyes ended with 758 yards of offence.

“The combination of the run and the pass was good today, but I thought our offensive line played physical,” said Ohio State coach Ryan Day, whose team improved to 3-0. “You could just see it. Now we are on to conference play here. We still have a long way to go. We have to do it next week against a conference opponent.”

NETFLIX STAR MAKES EMOTIONAL RETURN

Manti Te’o couldn’t hold back the tears in his return to Notre Dame.

The former Fighting Irish linebacker, and eight-year NFL player, returned to South Bend, Ind., on Saturday to present the official colours before the team’s game against Cal. It was his first public appearance on campus in over a decade, since his cat-fishing scandal shook the sports world.

He received thunderous applause as he was introduced, visibly wiping away tears from his face and placing his hand over his heart as he saluted the crowd.

Just recently, Te’o shared his story publicly for the first time as part of Netflix’s two-part documentary “Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist.” While starring at Notre Dame during his senior season in 2012, and amid a Heisman trophy push, Te’o revealed that both his grandmother and his girlfriend at the time, Lennay Kekua, had died.

Manti Te'o gets emotional in his return to Notre Dame 🙏💚

(via @angdicarlo)pic.twitter.com/TplJP6rDkb

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 17, 2022

Deadspin reported a year later, however, that the person behind Kekua’s online persona was actually Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, a person from Seattle. Te’o and the digital persona only communicated virtually and over the phone — never face-to-face.

“It may have just been some random words to everybody, but for me at that time, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I needed to reveal it,” Te’o told CBS about why he decided to share his story.

“I challenged myself at this time that if anybody asked about it or had questions about it, I would be open and I would have those hard conversations, and I started to feel the strength that I would get from talking about it.”

At Notre Dame, Te’o was a consensus All-American his senior year while also finishing runner-up for the Heisman. He was selected in the second round by the Chargers in the 2013 NFL Draft, after scrutiny surrounding his cat-fishing scandal saw him slide, and played four seasons with the team. He later played three seasons with the Rams and spent time with the Bears, but has not played since 2020.

Notre Dame opened the season 0-2 under new head coach Marcus Freeman, with a loss to Ohio State followed by a shocking upset by Marshall.

Prior to the game against Cal, Te’o touched on the slow start.

“There is a reason we’re the Fighting Irish,” he told the crowd, per On3. “We’ll fight you anywhere. We’ll fight you in there, we’ll fight you on the road, we’ll fight you in the parking lot. Turf, snow, rain — it doesn’t matter. We’ll fight you for four quarters. Now we’re going to get the job done. Remember that language, boys. Stay fluent in it. Go Irish!”

– Jared Schwartz, NY Post

Originally published as Australian college punter goes viral as he shows off insane skills