FLORIDA FOOTBALL & RECRUITING COVERAGE

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Entering his senior season, punter Tommy Townsend put in extra time over the summer to help perfect the Florida Gators punting unit.

His primary focus this summer was consistency: while he ranked third in the SEC last season with an average of 45.4 yards per punt, Townsend took it upon himself to improve even further. When asked what steps he took, he replied, “I’ve gotten my hang time average up this year. I’m hitting a lot more punts with bigger hang times, five seconds.”

That additional hang time will allow gunners Van Jefferson and Tyrie Cleveland even more time to get down the field and make plays covering punts.

Another imporant peice of the punting puzzle Townsend discussed was the upcoming competition for the coveted Long Snapper position. ”We have three guys competing for the job and they’re all pretty good, so they’re just going to fight it out into next week,” said Townsend. “I’m pretty confident in all three of them. We’ll see how it goes. It’s definitely going to be different from [Ryan] Farr - I’m going to miss him. But I’m excited for some of the new guys to come up and step up and play.”

The three Gators fighting for the spot are absolutely worth getting excited about.

Jacob Tilghman, another senior in the Florida football program, was the long snapper who saw playing time after starter Farr was injured. He stepped up in a big way, helping the team when his number was called.

Redshirt Junior Brett DioGuardi, while not having seen any playing time yet, was ranked a five-star long snapper and was touted as the No. 1 LS in the state of Florida in 2016, his senior year of high school. Brett is definitely a contender who is fighting for the starting position.

Last but certainly not least is walk-on Marco Ortiz. A red-shirted freshman who walked onto the team during the summer of 2018. Also a five-star long snapper and ranked No. 6 in his position out of high school.

Sophomore Kicker Evan McPherson was also very eager to discuss his own preparation for the upcoming season as well. While not glossing too much over the LS competition, he mentioned being excited to work with any of the three and also expressed confidence in their ability to perform.

hen asked about personal improvements to his game, McPherson replied, “Obviously I could improve my touchback percentage, but we had the best kickoff coverage team in the SEC last year. Just knowing that I didn’t really focus on it, just making field goals.”

Evan led the SEC in field goal percentage last season at 89.5%. He was also recently named to the 2019 Preseason Coaches All-SEC Football Second Team, alongside teammate Townsend.

When asked about his personal best field goal this summer, he was quick to mention a 65 yarder. When asked if he felt comfortable kicking that in a game, he was also quick to quip he’d be more comfortable from 60.