Spring Preview: The Specialists

AMES, Iowa - Replacing Colin Downing (P) and Garrett Owens (PK) will be a high priority for Campbell and his staff this spring.

Downing was the Cyclones' punter the last four seasons, ending his career with the eighth-best punting average (40.4) in school history.

Owens was a graduate transfer who earned honorable mention all-Big 12 honors in his only season as a Cyclone in 2017. His 17 field goals made tied for third in school history and his season field goal percentage (77.3 pct.) ranked fifth on the Cyclone season record list.

Campbell looked ahead to the future by adding two scholarship specialists at mid-year to compete for both positions in the spring in punter Corey Dunn (6-1, 200, So.#, Numurkah, Australia) and placekicker Brayden Narveson (6-1, 190, Fr., Scottsdale, Ariz.).

Dunn will have three years as a Cyclone after redshirting at City College of San Francisco last year. He averaged 40.1 yards per punt in 2016 and was considered the top junior college punter in the class of 2018 by 247Sports.

Narveson is an early enrollee who won the Luis Zendajas Award as Arizona's top prep kicker in 2017. He made 10-of-15 field goal attempts and connected on a 58-yarder in his final season.

Chris Francis (6-0, 186, Sr.#, Dubuque, Iowa) is back for his senior season and will provide competition at placekicker. Francis has been the Cyclones' main kickoff man the last three seasons. He had 38 touchbacks in 2017.

Joe Rivera (6-2, 188, So.#, Grinnell, Iowa) will likely backup Dunn at punter and will take a shot at holder along with Dunn.

Iowa State is in outstanding shape with its two long snappers. Both Steve Wirtel (6-4, 214, Jr., Orland Park, Ill.) and Quinn Sonntag (6-0, 221, Jr.#, Des Moines, Iowa) return for their third season of long-snapping service.

Wirtel handles the long snaps for punts and Sonntag is the long-snapper on field goals and PATs.

Campbell On The Special Teams
"The best thing for us is number one- some of the guys we brought into our kicking situation are already here with us, so you're going to get meaningful reps. With Brayden Narveson, being a young guy, we are not trying to force-feed him. We need to allow him to get comfortable and having the spring to do that is huge. I think what everybody must know is that Steve Wirtel is the rock and the foundation there. To have that consistency and that elite of a player at that position (long snapper) allows the other guys to really just settle in and do their job, which is really huge. Quinn Sonntag has also done a great job (long snapper) on field goals the last two years. Corey Dunn and Joe Rivera will get their chance at punter, along with Chris Francis at kicker. There is some good competition and guys we have faith in. Special teams will be a big area where we will need to continue to develop those guys, and I think we will. Coach (Joe) Houston, with keeping him on staff, I think that's huge for us. Our job now is to find out who our punter and our kickers will be going into the fall."

Players Mentioned

Colin Downing

Chris Francis

Brayden Narveson

Garrett Owens

Joe Rivera

Quinn Sonntag

Steve Wirtel

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics