BOONE, N.C. — App State Football punter
Ian Ratliff has been named the Sun Belt Conference's Special Teams Player of the Week after he delivered a fourth-quarter punt of 70 yards to the 1-yard line to cap a strong performance in a 26-24 win against Marshall.
Ratliff punted six times for a 47.7-yard average, with two kicks inside the 20 and a net average of 46.7 yards. He also had punts of 54, 48 and 48 yards result in fair catches and was the holder for a successful field goal unit that pushed App State in front on a kick with 2:02 remaining in the contest.
The longest punt of Ratliff's career was App State's first punt of 70-plus yards since current NFL punter Sam Martin had a 74-yarder against Wofford in 2009. That forced the Thundering Herd to start a drive from the shadow of its own end zone with about nine minutes remaining, and it picked up two first downs, but defensive lineman
Caleb Sandstrom wrestled the ball away from backup quarterback Zion Turner on a rush to the Thundering Herd 40, setting up App State's go-ahead possession that began with 5:33 remaining.
