Punter, Illinois, 2017–⁠21

Blake Hayes

Number: No. 14
Height: 6′6″
Weight: 225 lb
Class (2021): Senior
Hometown: Melbourne, VIC

Blake Hayes played punter at Illinois (2017–⁠21).

Honors

Players of the year, conference and regional honors: Wikipedia’s lists (CC BY-SA), each linked from its honor.

Punting

Punting yards, season by season, with his team’s record

3,231

2,701

3,437

1,839

3,068

2–⁠104–⁠86–⁠72–⁠65–⁠7

Season	Team	Punts	Yds	Avg	Long	In 20
2017	Illinois	77	3,231	42.0	64	0
2018	Illinois	62	2,701	43.6	69	21
2019	Illinois	77	3,437	44.6	70	10
2020	Illinois	42	1,839	43.8	62	16
2021	Illinois	68	3,068	45.1	80	34
Career		326	14,276	43.8	80	81

Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls.

On the roster

Season	Team	No.	Pos	Class	Ht	Wt
2017	Illinois	14	P	Yr 1
2018	Illinois	14	P	Yr 2
2019	Illinois	14	P	Yr 3
2020	Illinois	14	P	Yr 4
2021	Illinois	14	P	Sr. (Yr 5)	6′6″	225

As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.

Game by game

2021 Illinois 12 games, 68 punts, 45.1 average

Date	Opponent	Result	Punts	Yds	Long	In 20
Aug 28	vs.Nebraska	W 30–⁠22	6	272	59	4
Sep 4	vs.UTSA	L 30–⁠37	5	245	56	4
Sep 11	atVirginia	L 14–⁠42	7	300	53	0
Sep 17	vs.Maryland	L 17–⁠20	7	302	58	3
Sep 25	atPurdue	L 9–⁠13	6	291	80	4
Oct 2	vs.Charlotte	W 24–⁠14	1	39	39	0
Oct 9	vs.Wisconsin	L 0–⁠24	7	326	58	3
Oct 23	atPenn State	W 20–⁠18	4	172	47	3
Oct 30	vs.Rutgers	L 14–⁠20	8	355	57	3
Nov 6	atMinnesota	W 14–⁠6	7	306	52	4
Nov 20	atIowa	L 23–⁠33	7	331	59	3
Nov 27	vs.Northwestern	W 47–⁠14	3	129	48	3

2020 Illinois 8 games, 42 punts, 43.8 average

Date	Opponent	Result	Punts	Yds	Long	In 20
Oct 23	atWisconsin	L 7–⁠45	5	210	48	2
Oct 31	vs.Purdue	L 24–⁠31	2	83	53	1
Nov 7	vs.Minnesota	L 14–⁠41	8	343	54	2
Nov 14	atRutgers	W 23–⁠20	4	184	59	3
Nov 21	atNebraska	W 41–⁠23	3	137	49	0
Dec 5	vs.Iowa	L 21–⁠35	7	266	49	2
Dec 12	atNorthwestern	L 10–⁠28	4	220	62	3
Dec 19	atPenn State	L 21–⁠56	9	396	55	3

2019 Illinois 13 games, 77 punts, 44.6 average

Date	Opponent	Result	Punts	Yds	Long	In 20
Aug 31	vs.Akron	W 42–⁠3	4	184	51	0
Sep 7	atUConn	W 31–⁠23	4	155	47	0
Sep 14	vs.Eastern Michigan	L 31–⁠34	7	338	55	0
Sep 21	vs.Nebraska	L 38–⁠42	8	368	59	0
Oct 5	atMinnesota	L 17–⁠40	7	302	53	0
Oct 12	vs.Michigan	L 25–⁠42	7	328	70	0
Oct 19	vs.Wisconsin	W 24–⁠23	5	233	55	0
Oct 26	atPurdue	W 24–⁠6	8	342	64	0
Nov 2	vs.Rutgers	W 38–⁠10	5	227	55	2
Nov 9	atMichigan State	W 37–⁠34	9	401	60	3
Nov 23	atIowa	L 10–⁠19	4	154	49	0
Nov 30	vs.Northwestern	L 10–⁠29	4	197	61	1
Dec 30 ✦	vs.California	L 20–⁠35	5	208	55	4

2018 Illinois 12 games, 62 punts, 43.6 average

Date	Opponent	Result	Punts	Yds	Long	In 20
Sep 1	vs.Kent State	W 31–⁠24	5	267	69	2
Sep 8	vs.Western Illinois	W 34–⁠14	7	287	51	5
Sep 15	vs.South Florida	L 19–⁠25	7	322	62	4
Sep 21	vs.Penn State	L 24–⁠63	4	179	54	1
Oct 6	atRutgers	W 38–⁠17	4	176	51	2
Oct 13	vs.Purdue	L 7–⁠46	9	391	53	2
Oct 20	atWisconsin	L 20–⁠49	6	219	48	1
Oct 27	atMaryland	L 33–⁠63	4	167	48	1
Nov 3	vs.Minnesota	W 55–⁠31	2	82	49	1
Nov 10	atNebraska	L 35–⁠54	3	129	45	0
Nov 17	vs.Iowa	L 0–⁠63	8	359	62	1
Nov 24	atNorthwestern	L 16–⁠24	3	123	48	1

2017 Illinois 12 games, 77 punts, 42.0 average

Date	Opponent	Result	Punts	Yds	Long
Sep 2	vs.Ball State	W 24–⁠21	4	184	54
Sep 9	vs.Western Kentucky	W 20–⁠7	7	243	52
Sep 15	atSouth Florida	L 23–⁠47	7	285	49
Sep 29	vs.Nebraska	L 6–⁠28	5	185	44
Oct 7	atIowa	L 16–⁠45	2	88	51
Oct 14	vs.Rutgers	L 24–⁠35	6	259	47
Oct 21	atMinnesota	L 17–⁠24	5	262	59
Oct 28	vs.Wisconsin	L 10–⁠24	4	164	46
Nov 4	atPurdue	L 10–⁠29	6	244	47
Nov 11	vs.Indiana	L 14–⁠24	11	455	53
Nov 18	atOhio State	L 14–⁠52	11	469	64
Nov 25	vs.Northwestern	L 7–⁠42	9	393	52

Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.

Before the draft

Drill	Combine 2022
Height	6′4⅜″
Weight	226 lb
Arm length	33″
Hand size	9¾″

Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data).

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