Kelly Noncommittal on Punting Situation

By Matt Moscona

Brian Kelly isn’t ready to name a starting punter with a little over two weeks until the Tigers open the season in Las Vegas against Southern Cal.

Speaking after practice Wednesday, Kelly said inconsistency is the issue with redshirt junior Peyton Todd and graduate transfer Blake Ochsendorf.

“We’ll see a couple of incredibly big kicks, and then we’ll see one that is certainly not effective enough.”

Kelly did not rule out the possibility of using both punters.

LSU is looking to replace Jay Bramblett, who followed Kelly to Baton Rouge from Notre Dame.  In 2023, opponents returned just two punts against the Tigers for -1 yard.

When Todd became a member of the Tigers 2021 signing class out of West Monroe he was rated as the nation’s top prep punter by 247Sports.  He has yet to punt in a collegiate game.  Ochsendorf was First Team All-Conference USA in 2023 at Louisiana Tech where he averaged 45.7 yards per punt.  A rare seventh year senior, Ochsendorf began his college career in 2018 at Minnesota State-Moorhead where he played for two seasons before spending the next three seasons at Eastern Michigan.

“They’re both extremely talented,” Kelly said.  “It’s going to sort itself out.”