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Football

Dixon boots Syracuse record punt in standout performance

At first it looked like any other punt for Riley Dixon. Standing at the 5-yard line, the punter shuffled his feet to the right and booted a high-arcing kick.

But this time, the ball kept bouncing. And bouncing. And bouncing. After initially hitting the ground near the 30-yard line, Dixon’s punt bounced past Adam Humphries and all the way to the Clemson 8 before Darius Kelly tracked it down with a host of Orange special teams players.

Dixon’s 75-yarder set the record for the longest punt in Syracuse history in SU’s (2-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) 49-14 loss to No. 3 Clemson (5-0, 3-0) on Saturday. Dixon was a busy man all afternoon, punting nine times and averaging 46.4 yards per punt.

“We expect Riley to make big plays,” special teamer Ritchy Desir said.

But 75 yards?



“Seventy-five yards,” Desir responded, nodding his head.

The punt, which broke the record of 73 previously shared by Sean Reali and Rob Long, came at the 8:01 mark of the first quarter on a fourth-and-18 for the Orange.

One fan, wearing a neon Dixon jersey, rose to his feet and cheered with the rest of the raucous crowd.

Dixon, who attended Syracuse’s Christian Brothers Academy, walked in to the Orange as a freshman. Now he’s earned the starting job and has pinned eight kicks inside the 20.

Without the 6-foot-5 Dixon’s consistency — and his one unprecedented gem — Clemson may have put up more than 49 points.

“You know what man, a team like that, you’ve got to make them go the distance,” Syracuse wide receivers coach Rob Moore said. “They have such great speed, you could see what they can do.”





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