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SALT LAKE CITY — It didn’t take long for Utah to reload at punter this year, evidenced by sophomore punter Mitch Wishnowsky’s showing in his debut game against Southern Utah Thursday.
Wishnowsky’s effort led him to be named the season’s first Pac-12 Specialist of the Week, making him the first from Utah to be named a player of the week by the conference this season.
The Australian native had six punts in Thursday’s game, averaging 55.5 yards per punt. His average punt distance broke a school record of 55.4 yards per punt, which was previously held by the two-time Ray Guy Award-winner Tom Hackett. Wishnowsky leads the nation in average yards punted in a game, beating out Texas’ Michael Dickson who averaged 55.0 yards on six punts.
Wishnowsky also downed two punts inside the 20-yard line and had a long of 66 yards. He had five punts over 50 yards, which is second-most in school history.
Colorado quarterback Sefu Liufau was named the Pac-12’s Offensive Player of the Week and Oregon linebacker Troy Dye was named the Defensive Player of the Week. Liufau completed 23-of-33 passes for 318 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 66 yards on 14 carries in Colorado’s 44-7 win over Colorado State.
Dye led the team in tackles with 11 (seven solo) and had 4.5 tackles for loss, which ranks him No. 1 in the nation. He finished the game with one sack and a blocked field goal attempt in Oregon’s 53-28 victory over UC Davis.
Also nominated from Utah were quarterback Troy Williams on offense and safety Marcus Williams on defense.
