Pinning them deep: Sam Vander Haar has aided BYU’s defense tremendously this season
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- BYU punter Sam Vander Haar celebrates his team’s win over West Virginia
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- BYU punter Sam Vander Haar has made it a habit of pinning opposing offenses deep this season
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- BYU punter Sam Vander Haar has enabled much of his team’s effectiveness on fake punts and field goals
When assessing just how impactful BYU punter Sam Vander Haar has been this season, there’s perhaps none better to provide insight that the Cougar defenders he’s aided tremendously.
BYU presented defensive tackle John Taumoepeau to the media on Monday, and the 6-foot-2, 300 pound senior was all smiles when asked as to how much Vander Haar’s adeptness in pinning opposing offenses deep has provided to the Cougar’s defensive play this season.
“Man, that always gets us hyped,” Taumoepeau said. “Seeing that ball on their own five yard line, having them backed up, we always tell ourselves, ‘Let’s go score some points on defense.’ We always know when we have Sam having a great punt back there we can always get (a safety.)…It’s also very hard for an offense against our defense to drive it 97 yards, so it’s a big blessing to have Sam.”
Indeed BYU did score a safety early on this season in a 27-3 win over Stanford courtesy of a Vander Haar punt, which pinned the Cardinal back up against its own endzone. And few fans will forget Cougar cornerback Evan Johnson picking off a pass and returning it for a touchdown versus East Carolina on the heels of yet another effective Vander Haar punt inside the 20 yard line.
So far this season seven of Vander Haar’s 12 punts have been down inside the opponent’s 20 yard line, making his respectable 43.6 yards per punt all the more impressive.
“I hate getting touchbacks,” Vander Haar said. “So I really pride myself in keeping that ball in(bounds) and it sets up our defense in a favorable position to get the ball back to our offense eventually.”
Vander Haar is a native Australian whose primary background is playing Australian rules football, which involves a lot of kicking, and in turn has aided him substantially since arriving in the United States to punt for Pittsburgh in 2023 and then for BYU beginning with the 2024 season. According to the 6-foot, 220 pound senior placing the ball as effectively as he has involves understanding and then executing trajectory along with how exactly to place your foot on the ball when making contact. Oh, and practice. Lots and lots of practice.
“One thing I can tell you about Sammy is the guy works hard,” said BYU Coach Kalani Sitake. “…To have a guy with his work ethic, skill, and ability to pin the ball deep. He’s not worried about stats, either…He’s a team guy and I appreciate having him on the team.”
Sitake expounded on Vander Haar’s other primary role too, as the team’s primary holder for kicks, a role that can be taken for granted by most football fans, but not by Sitake and other Cougar coaches who have taken notice of the work he’s done in that role.
“We asked him to do it and all he did was go out there and work every day, even in the offseason, and work on getting holds as much as possible,” Sitake said. “He’s made himself a very accurate and dependable holder for (kicker) Will Ferrin.”
Vander Haar has also proved athletic enough to contribute to many effective fake punts and kicks since arriving in Provo. Overall he’s enjoyed all of his roles on the football field and his life, both academically and socially, away from the field of play.
“I’ve made no secret that I do love it here a lot,” Vander Haar said. “It’s a bit different from my background, culturally with the Church (of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and things like that, but also I think that I’ve really bought into it and I’ve allowed myself to be open-minded and really enjoy the experience.”
Kelly listed
The BYU football team released its depth chart on Monday, and to the relief of many, linebacker Jack Kelly was listed as the team’s starter at one outside linebacker position. The listing doesn’t guarantee Kelly’s availability for this Saturday’s game versus Arizona after sustaining an apparent shoulder injury during last week’s win over West Virginia, but it does lead to some optimism in the prospect.
“We’ll see on some guys who are banged up if they’re ready to roll with us, but that’s part of the game,” Sitake said. “We have our depth there for a reason.”
There’s also some question regarding outside linebacker Isaiah Glasker’s availability after leaving last week’s win early with an undisclosed injury. If both aren’t ready to go, the Cougars will lean on players like Ace Kaufusi, Maika Kaufusi and Miles Hall to fill in at either outside linebacker spot.
Utes in primetime
The game time was announced on Monday for BYU’s game versus rival Utah on October 18 with the two teams set to square off at 6 p.m. MST. The game will be broadcast on the Fox Network.
