With 34 days until Florida comes to Salt Lake City to open the season, today’s UteNation countdown to kickoff article features no. 34 Jack Bouwmeester. The Australian was the primary punter in all 14 games in 2022, averaging 39.2 yards on 39 punts. Twenty-two of Bouwmeester’s punts went for a fair catch and 17 were downed inside the 20-yard line. The sophomore was a big reason why Utah’s punt return defense was ranked no. 2 in the nation, averaging just 1.0 yard allowed per return.

Prior to Utah, Bouwmeester played at Michigan State in 2019 and 2020, but did not see any action.

UteNation Take

Bouwmeester should hold the starting position for the 2023 season again and be even more effective than he was in 2022. Kyle Whittingham has been on record that Bouwmeester took treatment strides forward during spring ball. He came to Utah being able to kick both a traditional spiral punt style and roll out. Expectations were high for him last year, but his kicks in practice didn’t really translate over to the games. That’s the mystery that no one will know if it’s solved, until Utah opens the season against Florida.

Remembering Bouwmeester’s Recruitment

Bouwmeester was a 2-star kicker in the 2019 class out of Victoria, Australia and trained at the successful ProKick Australia, a program that regularly produces Ray Guy Award winners. Bouwmeester’s coach Nathan Chapman used to coach at Central Michigan and had connected to Michigan State’s Shayne Graham, which is where Bouwmeester ended up signing before transferring to Utah.