BYU's field-goal faking punter eager for new challenge: first-time fatherhood

PROVO — Sam Vander Haar's latest trick play may involve him being in two places at once.

The BYU punter whose trickeration has become mythic since he transferred to Provo from Pittsburgh two years ago is "crossing his fingers" that his first-born son with his wife, Hallie, will arrive before the former Australian Rules Football player heads to Tucson for No. 18 BYU's road tilt Saturday at Arizona (6 p.m. MDT, ESPN2).

Hallie was initially on track to deliver Wednesday, but with the team flying to Arizona on Friday, many plans have been made to make sure the Cougars' punter can be present at the birth of his first child.

If nothing else, both BYU and Vander Haar have proven plenty capable of improvising during the Cougars' 5-0 start.

"We've got a bunch of plans ready," admitted special teams coordinator Kelly Poppinga, who has earned a reputation as a master of planning for his third-phase schemes since returning to his alma mater three years ago. "We have a plan where we can fly him home on a private jet, and get him back in time for the game. There are a bunch of things.

"Right now, we're just playing it day-by-day," Poppinga added. "But No. 1, he wants to be there when it happens, and he needs to be with his wife when it happens — so (backup punter Fuller Shurtz) will be ready to go. Will (Ferrin, top place kicker) knows how to punt, as well, so I think we have a good backup plan if Sam's not around."

Vander Haar has been pretty good at improvising in his time in Provo, though.

The 28-year-old from Melbourne, Australia, who is the oldest player on the team, came to BYU after averaging 38.5 yards per punt in 12 games as Pitt's primary punter.

Vander Haar heard from BYU virtually sight unseen, of both the university and the school's sponsoring institution The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But being older, married and in what he described as a different phase of life from many of his teammates, BYU's unique culture jived with him and his wife pretty seamlessly.

"It's been fantastic," he said. "I wouldn't change it for the world."

So, too, did his vibe with Ferrin, for whom he also holds on field goals; new long snapper Garrison Grimes, the son of former BYU offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes who transferred from Baylor; and Poppinga, a mad-scientist type of special teams coordinator who launched the BYU punter into something of a household name.

The redshirt junior went viral last year when he pulled off a fake field goal against UCF in Orlando, when Vander Haar flipped the ball on the snap between his legs to a rushing Ferrin, who ran 8 yards for a first down.

The viral play was further emboldened by a Pop-Tarts Crazy Good Play of the Week award that earned his team a small mountain of the toaster pastries.

It happened again Friday, when Vander Haar faked the ball between his legs on another Ferrin field-goal attempt before tucking it and running 11 yards for a first down in the Cougars' 38-24 win over West Virginia.

"It was a lot of fun. We've had that one dialed up for a little bit now," he said, before cheekily adding: "Humbly, I think I could've maybe got to the end zone."

Of course, Vander Haar's No. 1 priority involves making a poor situation a little less so — and he's done that remarkably well, too. The 6-foot, 220-pound bacon booter has averaged 43.6 yards per punt, with seven punts downed inside the 20 and no touchbacks.

His background in Australian rules football, or "Aussie rules" for short, helps. The game is a modified version of rugby between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground roughly twice the size of an American football field.

Players can move the ball any way they want — usually kicking, hand-passing or running — to score the ovoid ball between the central goal posts for six points, or between a central and outer post for one point, called a "behind."

"The two biggest things that translate to the American game is the operation time, or getting the ball hand-to-foot really fast … and moving the ball by foot," Vander Haar explained. "In Australian rules football, you really focus on accuracy, whereas punting focuses a lot on power.

"It's a very continuous game, high octane and violent," he added. "But the fundamental aspect of kicking is probably close to the same in both sports."

With his kicking background, Vander Haar has often sacrificed distance for hang time and pin placement, two priorities on which he's leaned on his background out of ProKick Australia.

"Sam's playing at a really high level right now," Poppinga said of Vander Haar, who is one of the top punters in the country in net punt yards. "Having him be able to pin an offense inside the 10-yard line has been huge.

"I think right now, we're one of the few teams that hasn't allowed any return yards on punt. We've got to continue to do that, and it will be a challenge this week because (Arizona) has two really good returners."

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