Huskies Aren't Dunne Trying to Polish Punting Situation

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated Oct 14, 2025 6:56 PM ET

Luke Dunne averages just over a punt a game for the University of Washington football team, which isn't much at all.

In fact, he's gone two full outings in which the Husky offense was so good he wasn't used.

Yet with Dunne, a 6-foot-5, 218-pound Oregon transfer, UW opponents have seen enough to sense a vulnerability there.

They haven't been able to exploit it just yet, but they've tried, continually coming after the one-time Australian rules football player with a punt block in mind.

Rutgers brought everyone and came close.

Ohio State did the same.

In the process, they caused him to shank punts that traveled just 18 and 17 yards.

The issue with Dunne appears to be that he's a tad slow in launching his kicks and the opposition has picked up on this in scouting the Huskies.

"We obviously will look at everything to see if the operation needs any tweaking or see if we have to speed up or change any of our protections," UW coach Jedd Fisch said.

Dunne hasn't had a punt blocked this season, but other teams seem to think it's possible.

He also has been a little jumpy when he feels the pressure coming, hence he's had those aforementioned short punts go off the side of his foot.

After spending a couple of seasons as the back-up Oregon punter, he entered the transfer portal and landed a full-time gig in Montlake.

On nine punts for the Huskies, Dunne averages 39.4 yards.

Against Ohio State and Rutgers, he's also put his leg into season-long 56-yard punts against each one.

The Huskies picked up Dunne after deciding to go in a different direction from Jack McCallum, who was the No. 1 punter for the three previous seasons.

On 110 career punts, McCallum, a Seattle product, averaged 42 yards a boot in his time at the UW, including a career-best 43 yards per kick in 2024.

Yet once the Huskies made it clear they wanted an Australian-stylepunter and signed one in Dusty Zimmer, McCallum transferred to Nebraska.

However, Zimmer watched one UW spring football practice and inexplicably went home, leading the Huskies to Dunne.

McCallum was back on the market, too. After he joined his new team, the Cornhuskers hired a special-teams coach who similarly expressed a desire for an Aussie punter.

McCallum turned to Purdue and the Boilermakers appear to have picked up a bargain here, with the former Husky currently averaging 47.7 yards on 19 punts, with a long of 68 yards.

He's had nine kicks of 50-plus yards and dropped eight inside the opposing 20.

In a bit of irony, McCallum will return to Husky Stadium with Purdue in a month and play against his former teammates and Dunne.

In that Nov. 15 game, he'll get a chance to show Fisch's staff whether or not the Huskies made a mistake in not retaining him.

The Boilermakers may want to check and see if Dunne's launch time has improved, too.

This article first appeared on Washington Huskies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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