Butt Punt 2.0? Big Ten team commits embarrassing special teams blunder
By Keith Farner
Published:
Hugh Robertson will want to forgot this play.
The Illinois punter launched a ball into one of the his teammates, which resulted in a 6-yard punt in a special teams blunder against Michigan State. It reminded fans and media about the Miami Dolphins’ butt punt earlier this season.
As the Spartans took a 23-7 lead late in the third quarter, Illinois didn’t have much go right most of the game.
Butt-Punt 2.0? ? pic.twitter.com/GnS2jjdERA
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 5, 2022
The Illini were 0-for-3 on fourth down including a Chase Brown fumble a pitch that had low chances of success to begin with, and that was the third turnover on downs.
The game was a surprising development given both teams’ play to this point in the season.
Illinois has been the surprise of the year in the Big Ten and grabbed control of Big Ten West with a 6-game winning streak. The programs were trending in opposite directions after the Spartans’ 11-win season in 2021. Michigan State appeared to have hit rock bottom last Saturday when violence erupted in the tunnel of Michigan Stadium after an embarrassing 29-7 loss to rival Michigan.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
