Punters can often be overlooked, but SIU’s punter should not have the same fate.

Redshirt freshman Nick Neidig has been the go-to punter this year and has taken all but one punt this season.

Special teams coach Keith Murphy said even though Neidig is young, he has all the physical tools of a successful punter.

“He has a long, lean punter’s body that you like to see,” he said. “His number one thing is the physical attributes, but the number two thing is his preparation. You see him in warm ups and pre-practice, he’s always focused and never sidetracked.”

Neidig has the No. 6 average punt length in the MVC this season. He averages 40 yards on every punt, which is not much less than the Misssouri Valley Conference leader, junior Ben LeCompte of North Dakota State, who averages 43.1 yards.

He has also landed 11 punts inside the 20-yard line and has five punts of more than 50 yards.

Although Neidig has been impressive this season, there is still room to grow. He said he has not reached his potential, but it will come with experience.

Murphy said Neidig is very impressive for a freshman and his work ethic is allows him to improve.

“I need to learn to stay in a flow,” he said. “I’ve had some good games this year, but I need to learn to be more consistent.”

Neidig’s best game of the year came Sep. 27 in a 34-17 victory against Western Illinois.

Junior Derek Matthewson took the first punt of the game, his only punt of the year.

“Nick was being a little too methodical, and Derek had earned his shot,” Murphy said. “We wanted to see if Nick would respond, and he did.”

Neidig came into the game and with his next punt he recorded a season-high 75-yard punt. He took three more punts in the game for 37, 43 and 52 yards.

The 75-yard punt is the fifth-longest punt in the country this season.

Neidig said he did not have a good week in practice, and being pulled made him improve his game.

“Being pulled for a punt made me realize that I have to step it up, so that kind of helped me,” he said.

Murphy said specialists tend to get comfortable once they have earned a starting position. He and head coach Dale Lennon wanted to break Neidig of that.

Neidig came to SIU after a successful punting career at North Posey High School in Indiana. He was a 2012 All-State selection by the Associated Press and was named Indiana’s top punter by the Indianapolis Star.

Neidig said he has improved a lot since high school both mentally and physically.

“I’ve put a lot of work in through the offseason, and a lot of coaches and teammates here have helped me out,” he said.

Murphy said Neidig has improved since the spring.

“It shows how hard he worked on his own over the summer,” he said. “He earned the job. For that, mentally, for a freshman, that is pretty impressive.”

Austin Flyger, defensive line coach, said he was put in charge of recruiting Neidig.

“Other coaches on the team had really come to like him so they told me to stay on top of it,” he said. “I called him weekly and checked in with him. I think he liked what he saw here and he’s a good fit.”

Flyger said he developed a good relationship with Neidig and his parents, and hoped that it helped in his decision to commit to SIU.

Neidig said he had a lot of colleges reach out to him, but he narrowed his choices down to SIU and Ball State. He chose SIU because of the academics and his feel for the coaching staff.

Murphy said Neidig has all the tools, but he hopes the consistency comes together.

“With more and more game experience, you’re going to see him become a better and better punter each week,” he said. “I think someday he could be an All-Conference and All-American type punter.”