Trebor Pena was named to the watch list for the Paul Hornung Award, which is bestowed upon the most versatile player in major college football. Part of the reason for that is his ability to contribute in the return game.
Pena was slotted as the punt returner for the Orange last year, but only returned a pair before injury ended his season, bringing his career total to 40 punt returns for an 8.1-yard average. The wide receiver has also returned 36 kickoffs in his career for a 27.0-yard average with a touchdown against North Carolina State as a freshman.
Darrell Gill Jr. handled the most kickoff returns on the team last year, handling a dozen kicks and posting a 21.8-yard mark. LeQuint Allen was involved as an occasional punt returner last season, as well, returning five punts, including a 53-yard return against Georgia Tech.
Brady Denaburg took over the placekicking responsibilities last season to mixed results. While he missed just one of 37 extra point attempts, Denaburg had some ups and downs on field goals. The junior was 10-of-16 overall, but just 4-of-10 on kicks of 37 yards or longer and 1-of-4 on attempts longer than 44 yards. His issues with field goals did not carry over to his kickoff work, though, as Denaburg had an over 90 percent touchback rate.
Jack Stonehouse transferred into the Syracuse program for his redshirt sophomore campaign after spending two seasons with Missouri. That move provided immediate dividends, as Stonehouse was honored as Third Team All-ACC after recording the second-highest punting average in school history.
The former Tiger averaged just over 44.6 yards on his 62 punts and had 18 kicks inside the opponents’ 20-yard-line, as well as forced 24 fair catches.
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