While the new year has begun, GoldandBlack.com is looking back at the previous season and taking a deep dive into each of Purdue's positions, how they graded, their trends and other observations.
Next up, the kickers and punters. Purdue fished out a good kicker from the portal in Mitchell Fineran, who earned consensus honorable-mention All-Big Ten accolades. The punting? That was another story.
Kicking observations
1. FCS gem
Michell Fineran was a gift from the football gods. He arrived prior to last season as a grad transfer from FCS Samford. He proceeded to kick a Big Ten-best 24 field goals. Fineran's 2.2 field goals made per game led the Big Ten. And his 82.8 success rate was fourth-best in the conference. There were only three games in which he didn't boot a field goal.
Fineran lacks a monster leg, but he's accurate. He was 11-of-11 from 20-29 yards and 12-of-17 from 30-39 yards. And Fineran nailed his lone kick from over 40 yards, a season-long of 49 in the opener vs. Oregon State.
The 5-11, 185-pound Fineran connected on his first nine field goals. He then went into a mini-funk, hitting just one of his next five. But Fineran finished the season by drilling 14 of his last 15-field goal attempts.
He also showed he was clutch, nailing a 39-yard game-winner vs. Tennessee in overtime in the Music City Bowl. It was one of four field goals Fineran hit that day. He also connected on four vs. Michigan State and four vs. Northwestern.
2. Kickoffs
Purdue used three different players to kick off: Chris Van Eekeren, Ben Freehill and Mitchell Fineran.
Van Eekeren began the year as the No. 1 kickoff man, but an ankle injury suffered during warmups at Iowa sidelined him for a while. Van Eekeren kicked off 34 times, averaging 63.0 yards. His 17 touchbacks led the team, and only 10 of his 34 kickoffs were returned (29.4 percent) with foes averaging 17.0 yards per return. His 3.77 hang time was a team-best.
Van Eekeren's absence opened the door for Freehill, an Oklahoma State transfer. He led the squad with 42 kickoffs. He had 15 touchbacks, and 50 percent of his kicks were returned for an average of 19.7 yards. Freehill averaged a team-best 63.7 yards per kickoff, barley edging out Van Eekeren.
Fineran was the least effective of the trio, averaging 58.5 yards on just four kickoffs with a 3.59 hang time. Opponents averaged 34.0 yards per return.
Punting observations
1. Multiple punters
This was a bit of mixed bag, as Purdue used three punters.
Punting average isn't the be-all, end-all stat for punters. But, it does matter. And Purdue finished last in the Big Ten with a 38.3-yard average.
2. Aussie import
The staff signed Australian Jack Ansell to cure the punting woes. Ansell had his moments, but he battled inconsistency, too. Of the 16 Big Ten punters graded by PFF, Ansell was 16th.
Ansell ranked 10th in the Big Ten with a 38.3 -yard average on 44 punts. At one point early in the season, Jeff Brohm became exasperated with Ansell and used Brendan Cropsey at UConn and vs. Notre Dame. Cropsey also punted twice in the finale vs. Indiana.
Ansell dropped 14 punts inside the 20-yard line with 23 fair catches. His 3.72 hang time was best on the team.
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