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Austin Barnes Named MAC West Special Teams Player of the Week

10/31/2016 11:30:00 AM | Football

The redshirt junior punter earns the award for the second time in his career

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — Eastern Michigan University redshirt junior punter Austin Barnes (Fairview Heights, Ill.-O'Fallon) was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Special Teams Player of the Week for the period ending Oct. 29.  It is the second weekly award of his career and the sixth league accolade by an Eagle this season.

Barnes booted six punts for 288 yards (48.0 avg.) in a 28-15 loss to Miami  University Saturday, Oct. 29.  Barnes had three punts of 50+ and two of 60+, plus a season-high 61-yarder. He pinned the RedHawks inside their own 20 three times as well. It was the first game of his career where he had two punts for more than 60 yards.

His season average of 46.4 is ranked sixth in the country and second in the MAC. The Fairview Heights, Ill. native holds a career average of 43.3 yards, which is second all-time in Eastern Michigan history, while his 6,884 total yards ranks seventh all-time and his 50 punts downed inside the 20 rank tied for third.

The Eagles will continue the MAC season on the road after 10 days off. The Eagles will head to Ball State, Tuesday, Nov. 8, for a bout with the Cardinals for the first taste of mid-week "MACtion" on Election Day. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
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