URBANA — Urbana University junior punter Jay McCoy doesn’t want to see the field.

If he stays off the field, it means things are going well for the Blue Knights offensive unit.

“I always tell them: ‘Zero punts today,’ ” McCoy said. “Two weeks ago we were in Missouri and I told (the offense), ‘You guys are gonna make me come all the way down here, and I’m not going to play.’ And they almost did it, too.”

That day, McCoy punted just three times for 93 yards in the team’s 42-25 victory over Missouri S&T. Last week, he punted three times for 88 yards in the team’s 40-12 victory over Central State.

When he does get on the field, however, he’s performing well. This season, he’s averaging a career-best 37.0 yards per punt. He’s punted 41 times for 1,552 yards — including 12 inside the 20-yard line.

“I’m more comfortable now,” said McCoy, who played at Tiffin as a freshman. “I’m more relaxed and more confident in what I can do.”

In college, punting is a specialized position, meaning he misses out on a lot of the hard stuff — like hitting and conditioning. But it doesn’t come without some ribbing from his teammates.

“The guys are always jealous of the specialists,” McCoy said. “They say we’re living the dream all the time.”

He also knows how important special teams can be. If one man misses a block, the game can change — the same goes for the punt team.

“It’s a true team concept all the time,” McCoy said.

Offensively, they’re averaging just four punts per game. Freshman quarterback DJ Mendenhall is 17th in D-II in passing efficiency (156.3 rating), while Boise Moon is seventh in the nation in all-purpose yards — meaning McCoy has to take advantage of every opportunity.

He said the team prides itself on holding opponents to little or no punt return yardage. Central State had just 1 yard against the Blue Knights, who average just 6.5 punt return yards per game.

“A lot of our punts have been field position punts,” McCoy said. “We move the ball, we’re just struggling a little bit on defense right now.”

The Blue Knights started the season 1-6, but lost three games to ranked opponents by a total of seven points. Last season, they went 6-5 and McCoy said they’re “on the cusp” of being a very good football team.

“I have faith in our coaching staff,” McCoy said. “I know what they’re capable of. I keep thinking we need one more offseason. Next year, it’s going to all come together.”

Short Takes

Football

• Shawnee High School graduate Seth Shipley, a junior linebacker at Earlham College, had eight total tackles, including four for loss, two forced fumbles and half a sack in the Quakers’ (0-9, 0-7 HCAC) 60-0 loss to Franklin College (8-1, 7-0 HCAC).

Boys soccer

• Kenton Ridge grad Mohammad Salhieh, a freshman at D-II Northern Kentucky, played 10 minutes in the Norse’s 3-0 victory over Indianapolis in the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament championship match on Nov. 7.

The Norse (15-2-3), ranked fifth in the nation, won their first conference tournament title since 1995 and earned the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional.

Cross country

• Emmanuel Christian Academy graduate Isaiah Bragg, a freshman at the Air Force Academy, finished 30th in 26:29 in the men’s 8k race at the Mountain West Conference Championships at the University of Wyoming on Oct. 29.

• Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams from Cedarville University accepted at-large bids to the NAIA Championships on Nov. 20 in Vancouver, Wash.

• Shawnee graduates Jordan Davies and Josh Wiseman and Cedarville High School grad Eli Pyles are all members of the 21st-ranked men’s squad. Cedarville High School grad Jessica McCoy is a member of the 12th-ranked women’s squad.