Position Preview: The Specialists

AMES, Iowa - Today we feature the specialists in our Position Preview.

Synopsis
Iowa State is fortunate to have most of its specialists return for 2020.

The Cyclones appear to have a battle at punter with the return of Corey Dunn (6-1, 201, Sr.#, Numurkah, Australia) and Joe Rivera (6-2, 186, Sr.#, Grinnell, Iowa).

Dunn averaged 40.2 yards per punt and boomed 10 50-yarders as ISU's punter in 2018, but had to miss the 2019 season when he suffered an Achilles tendon tear in summer workouts a year ago.

Dunn is making a recovery and is aiming to be ready to go by fall camp.

Rivera was immediately thrusted into action as the Cyclone punter in 2019 and got the job done. Rivera averaged 40.6 yards per punt and had 27 punts downed inside the 20.

The left-footed punter had nine 40-yarders on the year, including three vs. Notre Dame in the Camping World Bowl.

Connor Assalley (6-0, 195, Sr.#, Naperville, Ill.) will be the kicker for the third-straight season and the senior will finish out his career on scholarship after competing as a walk-on his first four years.

Assalley made 78.9 percent (15-19) of his field goals last year, the fourth-best season clip in school history, and has a career 73.8 percentage on his kicks to rank third in the history of the program.

Assalley, who has the ninth-most field goals made (31) in ISU history, drilled ISU's first walk-off game-winning field goal since 1983 with a 36-yarder to defeat No. 22 Texas last year.

It's up in the air on who ISU's kickoff man will be with the loss of Peyton Paddock as well as long snapper with Steve Wirtel, who was considered one of the best at his trade, graduating.

Connor Guess (5-11, 235, So.#, Van Meter, Iowa) will likely be the long snapper in the offseason and will compete for the job in 2020.

Blake Clark (6-2, 195, So.#, West Des Moines, Iowa) was the holder in 2019 and will continue to serve in that role next season.

Campbell On The Special Teams
"We know where Corey Dunn is at and I think we feel very confident where Joe Rivera is at. When you really step back and watch the film from a year ago, Joe did a fantastic job situationally and showed the ability to handle the placement of the punts. I think right now Joe has proven to be the guy and we need to see where Corey's health takes him. I know Corey has worked really hard to get himself back and it'll be interesting to see where he is by the time we get to fall camp. Connor Assalley is heading into his senior year and you expect that guy to be at his best. Connor has been really big for Iowa State in a lot of moments. I think there will be a great competition at long snapper this summer with Connor Guess and and incoming freshman Koby Hathcock that we're excited about. Connor has been a very steady force and traveled with us, so I think he's a guy that we can count on and a guy who is going to get the bulk of the reps in the offseason."

Players Mentioned

Connor Assalley

Blake Clark

Corey Dunn

Connor Guess

Koby Hathcock

Peyton Paddock

Joe Rivera

Steve Wirtel

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics