Blake Cusick: Setting the field

There are three phases to every football game. Offense features your star quarterback, strong offensive line and lightning fast receivers. Defense brings out your intimidating defensive line, tough linebackers and your gritty secondary. And then you have the specialists. Who, like in the name, are a very special group that often times goes unnoticed in the success of the team.

Special teams consists of a group of guys who are on the field during kicking plays - kickoffs, field goals and punts. One of the biggest tasks for the special teams is maintaining a solid field position, no matter what side of the ball. It can be a big momentum changer in any game of football.

That is something that Fresno State senior punter Blake Cusick has made a name for himself in doing. Known as the "Golden Leg" and "Ray Guy" by his teammates, Cusick has created an outstanding collegiate career in his position that many times gets through without appreciation.

"In my opinion, I think punting is a huge part of a football game," said Cusick. "It is just as important as the defense getting a crucial third down stop or the offense making an explosive play."

There is no punt without a long snapper. The long snapper-punter duo in junior Jacob Westberry and Cusick is one that cannot be matched.

"Off the field, we have found things to do with each other to build good chemistry. Whether it be playing pool, video games, or whatever else," said Westberry on his relationship with Cusick. "On the field, we have developed an understanding of each other's craft that have allowed us to get that much better."

This pair is special to the Bulldog special teams unit. The precise snap from Westberry to Cusick allows for the start of a beautiful punt down the field to the land inside the 20-yard line, or often times inside the 10 for Cusick.

"If I have a snap that he catches around his face mask instead of his hip, he can pinpoint why that happened," said Westberry. "If he hits a punt that doesn't turn over the way it should, or doesn't have the hang time that it usually does, I can usually pinpoint why that happened. It has allowed us to not fall into any bad habits and self-correct ourselves at a faster rate than we would be able to without each other."

But, that's not the only thing that makes for a successful punt. There are nine other guys who protect on the punt coverage and make sure that the punt lands where it should. The special teams is a unit - if one thing is off, the whole group is off. It's an "all hands on deck" mentality for the punt team and that makes it that much easier for Cusick to be successful.

Another big thing about the punting role is that the job isn't easy.

Number 47 for the Bulldogs isn't out there after just making the decision to kick a football for fun. It takes precision, practice and skill to be able to do what he does every weekend, and do it right. It even comes down to the cleats he wears as he has made the choice to wear a football cleat for grip on his non-kicking foot and a soccer cleat on his kicking foot.

A lot of things go in to a punt. Of course, the snap to start the play. From there comes the positioning, the angle, the drop, the kick and the follow through. Doing this while having a group of guys running at you to attempt to block the punt. Not everyone is built for that pressure, but Cusick rarely cracks under it.

"The objective of punting is to give the opposing team's offense the longest field possible to limit their play book, and to give our defense the best possible chance to get a stop or turnover and get the ball back into our offense's hands. I feel that punting is overlooked by many, but in reality, field position is very crucial to winning football games," said Cusick on the importance of punting.

As the job of punting generally gets overlooked, Cusick wasn't overlooked by many. In 2018, Cusick was named to the Ray Guy Award watch list and was a semifinalist for the award given annually to the nation's top punter. In turn giving him the nickname of "Ray Guy" by his teammates.

Cusick averaged 42.5 yards in his punts in 2017 which prompted his national-level recognition by the Ray Guy committee. He continued his success in 2018, averaging 42.2 yards per punt while landing 31 inside the 20-yard line and 11 inside the 10-yard line. With a strong special teams unit to defend the punt return after Cusick sends it deep, only 12 punts were returned for a total of 42 yards in all of 2018 while just five were touchbacks while 25 were fair caught.

The senior made it back on the Ray Guy Award watch list in 2019 and has not let off the gas this season.

"It is truly an honor and a blessing to be recognized nationally as a punter," said Cusick. "But, there are 10 other guys on the field with me that make my job easier. My punt team takes a lot of pride in what they do and they know how important it is to win the field position battle. I have been very fortunate to have coaches and a group of guys that put such a high level of effort and detail in punting. My success is a reflection of everyone involved on the punt team, and even to the scout team giving us great looks during the week at practice."

Cusick's selflessness does not go unnoticed. As a senior and having the experience and predecessors he has had, Cusick feels he has earned the respect of all of his teammates and coaches over the years.

Coming in as a freshman in 2015 while the punting and long-snapping duties were taken up by seniors Garrett Swanson and Justin Verrell, Cusick had the opportunity to watch them and learn from them. He gives credit to that special teams group for showing him the ropes and setting the standard high. He holds the young specialists to the same standards Swanson and Verrell did when he was young.

"The specialists are a great group of guys who are all open to constructive criticism, myself included," said Cusick on the 2019 group. "Just because I am the oldest in the group does not mean that I am above anybody. I want them to hold me accountable when I need to be. I try to lead not by being the most vocal person, but by setting the best example I possibly can, having a good work ethic, keeping a positive attitude and never getting discouraged when things go bad."

"What is great about Blake is that he has become versatile with his leadership," said Westberry. "He has a greater sense of how to act and what to say around us in order to accomplish what we need to accomplish as a group."
The respect earned has not come easy for Cusick, who was a walk-on to the program in 2015. The young Cusick went to work and put in the hours to get better every day. As a real blue-collar worker, Cusick earned himself a scholarship prior to his breakout 2017 season. Cusick has made a name for himself to his coaches, teammates and national watch lists, but you would never know from just having a conversation with him.

Cusick is a guy who loves the game he plays and the people around him with the same mission. He trusts the process, keeps his head down and gets to work day-in and day-out. He is somebody to look up to when it comes to punting or being an athlete.

"My advice to a young punter would be to work hard at perfecting your craft," said Cusick. "Be open to criticism. Don't get discouraged if a coach wants you to redshirt, see it as an opportunity to get better. Overall, take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

Next time you watch a football game, remember that there are three phases to every game - offense, defense and special teams. The guy out there with one soccer cleat and one football cleat is just as important as the ones making contact in the trenches and making plays in the endzone.

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Blake Cusick: Setting the field

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