Marty Finnegan does it all. He catches passes. He holds extra points. He punts.
He is, according to interim head coach Jay Civetti, the NESCAC Renaissance man.
"I've never heard of that one; that's kind of funny," Finnegan, a junior, said with a chuckle. "I just think that whatever way I can help the guys around me to be better, whether it be holding to help my kicker, or punting to help the coverage guys, I just think that anything I can do, I'm willing to step in and make it easier on those guys around me."
In Saturday's 9−0 loss on Homecoming to Trinity, Finnegan took his punting prowess to another level, landing five boots inside the Bantams' 15−yard line and three inside the 5−yard line. He wound up averaging 34.3 yards on 10 punts, a figure skewed by a sharp wind that resulted in a 28−yarder and a 14−yarder.
Take away the gusts and give the winless Jumbos the victory, and Finnegan would have been an even stronger contender for NESCAC Special Teams Performer of the Week honors, an award that instead went to Wesleyan freshman Josh Hurwitz, who averaged 37.6 yards on eight punts, two of which landed inside the Bates 20.
But the nature of a punter is inherently immaterial anyway, to avoid the spotlight and perform unsung heroics in the field position game. And that's Finnegan in a nutshell. The team's third−leading receiver, the PAT holder, the punter — well, the NESCAC Renaissance man — has spoke volumes without saying a word.
"He's amazing. He has changed the field so much for us," Civetti said. "In any game that we've had a chance to be in, it's been because of what he's done. How many times did we put them inside the 10? That puts us in a position to at least have a chance to win, especially with an offense like that and a team that can strike like they can."
Indeed, by pinning the Bantams offense deep in its own territory, Finnegan helped the Tufts defense limit Trinity to its lowest scoring total since 2005. The Bantams managed only four passing yards and really only scored when Finnegan's wind−killed punts put Trinity in Tufts territory to start the drive.
"That's a point of emphasis we make each week, and he has a big part of that," special teams coach Kevin Farr said. "The guys around him gave him a chance to be successful too, he had great protection, [senior] Pat Cassidy did a great job with snaps, couple of guys doing a good job on the edges covering kicks. It all came together, and Marty was a big part of it."
The coming−together began this summer for Finnegan back home in Oak Park, Ill., when he would take a bag of footballs into a nearby park and hone the craft he's performed since seventh grade.
His leg strength initially developed from playing soccer. These days, his success reflects more on the hours spent booting the covers off footballs, retrieving them and starting all over.
"They sent me eight footballs and I would just go to a park and keep getting repetitions, just because it's all muscle memory," Finnegan said. "Obviously I can't get a game situation, but you try to put yourself in that situation because it's all really mental. The offseason was definitely big in preparing for the success that I've had so far."
Finnegan has punted since his freshman year, when he backed up Tim Puopolo (A '10) to the tune of a 29.9 yards−per−punt average on 20 punts. In 2010, he took over the starting role, averaging 32.4 yards on 37 punts.
Entering this season, Finnegan had pinned opponents inside their own 20−yard line six times. This year, he's already done it nine times — third in the conference behind Amherst's Matt Rawson and Bowdoin's Beau Breaton.
His ever−improving average is up three more yards this season, to 35.1 yards per punt, and he is third on the Jumbos with 100 receiving yards on seven receptions. On more than one occasion, he's run a deep route on 3rd−and−long before turning around and heading into the backfield to boom another punt.
"I'd say that punting is a little more mental, because no matter what there will be guys rushing your face, you have to keep your focus on the ball in front of you and, no matter what happens, follow through with the same technique," Finnegan said. "Receiver, it's based off more how the defense is playing you, you might change up a route, but punting is really focusing on keeping everything the same each time, replicating the same motion."
So far, the replication has been nearly perfect.
