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Matt Panton - Football - University of Kentucky Athletics 93

MattPanton

  • position Punter
  • height 6-4
  • Weight 230
  • class Senior
  • Hometown Melbourne, Australia
  • Previous School Columbia
  • High school Melbourne Grammar School
BIO
  • Transferred to Kentucky after playing two seasons at Columbia University  in New York City.
  • Saw action in 18 career games
  • As a two-year punter, averaged 38.9 yards per punt (61 punts, 2,370 yards) with a long of 70, five touchbacks, 19 fair catches, 29 punts inside the 20-yard line and four punts of 50 yards or more
  • Two-year letterwinner

2016 – Junior

  • Saw action in all 10 games as a punting specialist
  • Ranked No. 42 nationally in punting (40.5 average
  • Ranked No. 4 in the Ivy League in punting (40.5 average)
  • Averaged 40.5 yards per punt (42 punts for 1,703 yards with a long of 70
  • Also finished with 29 punts inside the 20-yard line, four touchbacks, 13 fair catches and three punts of 50 yards or longer
  • His 70-yard punt was the longest in the Ivy League in 2016
  • Averaged 49.0 yards per punt on four punts and kicked career-long 70-yarder at Brown (Nov. 19) 
  • Punted three times inside the 20-yard line, finished with a 39.2 yards per punt average (6-235) with a long of 53 yards vs.  Dartmouth (Oct. 22)
  • Placed five of his six punts inside the 20-yard line, averaged 41.5 yards per punt (6-249) with a long of 49 and two fair catches at Georgetown (Sept. 24
  • Placed all three of his punts inside the 20-yard line (3-116) with a long of 46 and two fair catches in the season opener vs. Saint Francis U (Sept. 17)

2015 – Sophomore

  • Played nine games for the Lions
  • Averaged 35.1 yards per punt on 19 punts
  • Placed a team-high 12 punts inside the 20-yard line
  • Planted a season-high three punts inside the 20 at Yale

2014 – Freshman

  • Did not play

Personal

  • Born in Horsham, Australia
  • Son of Karen and David Panton
  • Was a member of Columbia’s heavyweight rowing program and Sigma Chi Fraternity
  • Experienced Australian Rules Football player
  • Graduated with a degree in psychology from Columbia in 2017 and is currently working on a  master’s degree in business administration at UK’s Gatton College of Business and Economics

Matt Says

  • His nickname is “Pants”
  • Other than playing in the NFL, his dream job is to be a marketing manager
  • One word to describe him on the field is Australian
  • His sports hero is Mike Tyson because of his tenacity
  • The best advice he’s ever received is “if you ain’t first, you’re last”
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