Texas P Michael Dickson named Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year

An inconsistent freshman season gave way to a consistently excellent sophomore season for Texas Longhorns punter Michael Dickson, who became the first Longhorn player to receive recognition as the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year on Wednesday.

The Ray Guy award semifinalist set a school record in averaging 47.4 yards per punt, which was also good enough to rank No. 3 nationally.

The final game of the season included a career-long punt of 74 yards and was one of five punts of more than 60 yards and 25 punts of more than 50 yards.

Dickson played a big role in helping out the defense with his accuracy and ability to place the ball — opponents scored only seven points following the 13 punts downed inside the 10-yard line. The Australian native also had 28 punts downed inside the 20-yard line.

Opponents only returned 19 punts on the season for an average of less than five yards per return, helping Texas rank No. 3 nationally in net punting.

Dickson also earned recognition as the AP first-team All-Big 12 punter this week.