Utah Utes football: Sellwood starting to thrive as punter

Talk about a tough act to follow. Redshirt freshman Sean Sellwood has stepped into some mighty big shoes as Utah's punter this season.

The Judge Memorial alum is following in the footsteps of All-American Louie Sakoda, a three-time Mountain West Conference Special Teams Player of the Year.

Sakoda also won a record 12 MWC Player of the Week awards during his career.

In last Saturday's 23-16 overtime win over Air Force, Sellwood began to close the gap. He earned his first weekly accolade after averaging 48.1 yards over eight punts — pinning the Falcons inside their own 7 twice in the final 3:44 of regulation.

"It was a huge honor," Sellwood said. "It's like a dream, just being one of the best in the conference and being up there statistics-wise and stuff. It's great."

Sakoda, who is now with the Canadian Football League's Sasketchewan Roughriders, was among the first to congratulate Sellwood. Sakoda helped coach him before leaving for Canada. They were also teammates in 2008 when Sellwood redshirted.

"I've been Facebooking Louie. He's really proud of me," Sellwood said. "He says 'just keep it up.' He told me 'good luck with everything.' "

Sellwood is currently third in the MWC and 23rd in the nation with an average of 43.1 yards per punt. He has placed eight of his 36 punts this season inside the 20 and seven kicks have traveled 50 yards or more, including a career-best 63-yarder against Louisville.

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said Sellwood punted the ball very well in the Air Force game and called the MWC award a "great accomplishment for Sean."

Sellwood, he added, is a guy with a lot of skill and a lot of untapped potential.

"Everything's just clicking," said Sellwood, who acknowledged he's making strides and adjusting to the collegiate game.

"There was a little slump I went through, but I'm finally getting out of it," he explained. "I feel a lot more confident now and I'm doing a lot better. So I'm happy."

Drive carefully

Utah athletics director Chris Hill asks Utah football fans to please use extra caution when driving to and from Saturday's game due to the heavy volume of trick-or-treaters anticipated in the neighborhoods surrounding Rice-Eccles Stadium.

The Utah-Wyoming game kicks off at 6 p.m. that evening. The Utah athletics department will host a Trick-or-Treat Zone on the south stadium plaza, starting at 4 p.m. A ticket is required for entry.

Utes on the air

Wyoming (4-3, 2-1 MWC) at No. 19 Utah (6-1, 3-0)

Saturday, 6 p.m.

Rice-Eccles Stadium

TV: The mtn.

Radio: 700 AM

e-mail: dirk@desnews.com