Ryan Kartje (LA Times)  —  A light rain fell over the Rose Bowl on Saturday night as Eddie Czaplicki took his place just behind USC’s 45-yard line. He didn’t expect to be needed, not with USC driving early in the fourth quarter against UCLA. But an ill-timed, third-down sack had knocked the Trojans out of field goal range. Now it was up to the best punter in college football to salvage the situation, like he had so often during USC’s season.

It was a critical moment in the crosstown rivalry, with the Trojans trailing 13-9, in need of a spark. But a familiar calm settled over Czaplicki. He took a deep breath, caught the snap, then sent the kick soaring toward the goal line, where it bounced once at the 5, landing softly in the arms of receiver Makai Lemon at the 1.

It was a perfectly precise punt, in the final stretch of a near-perfect season of punting. Back at midfield, Czaplicki put his palms together and bowed his head. “It was,” he said later, “almost like a zen thing.”

The senior punter spent most of this season operating in a similar state at USC, kicking as confidently as ever. The past three weeks, Czaplicki has been especially locked in, with his last nine punts all landing somewhere inside the 13-yard line.

None were so critical as the 45-yarder he landed on the UCLA 1. The Bruins drive lasted just four plays before their punter, Brody Richter, shanked his own kick, handing USC the ball at midfield. Three plays and 49 yards later, the Trojans took the lead for good.

It was a perfect encapsulation of the vital role field position has played for USC, as well as the importance of its punter, who arrived at the postgame news conference brimming with confidence, ready for his heat check.

“Just like no doubt about everything I’m doing right now, you know?” Czaplicki said. “I feel like I’m by far and away the best in the country right now. That’s just how I felt in that moment.”

It’s hard to argue. Take context out of the equation for a moment, and just consider the raw statistics: Twenty two of Czaplicki’s 36 punts (61%) this season have landed inside the 20-yard line. Nine (33%) have been inside the 10.

And these aren’t just chip shots, either: Nineteen of Czaplicki’s 36 punts (52%) have gone for 50 yards or more. His net punting average (46.2 yards) ranks first in college football, while his average punt distance (48.8 yards) ranks third — and second in school history to Tom Malone, who averaged 49 yards per punt in 2003.

Maybe most mind-boggling of all, he has yet to record a touchback through 11 games this season.

USC’s Eddie Czaplicki steadies for punt vs PSU last month at the Coliseum. (Icon Sportswire / Getty Images)

Now, consider the actual implications of that machine-like precision for USC. Fifteen of Czaplicki’s 36 total punts have led to drives that lasted four plays or fewer. Of the nine punts he landed inside the 10, just two of those drives led to points. (Both ended with field goals.) Extend the range to the 20, and opponents have scored on just five of 22 drives this season.

That power to manipulate field position has been especially valuable this season in the Big Ten, where offense has been harder to come by.

“It has been such a consistent weapon,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said. “I mean, I don’t know how you could have a better year than what [Czaplicki] is having right now? He’s just been absolutely tremendous.”

So it came as little surprise Tuesday when Czaplicki was named one of three finalists for the Ray Guy Award, which honors the best punter in college football. It’s one of the few awards in college football that USC has never claimed.

Czaplicki, who transferred to USC after two seasons at Arizona State, would like to change that.

“It’s the most prestigious award at my position,” Czaplicki said. “And to be the first guy at this university to win it? It would mean the world to me. Would mean the absolute world to me.”

He has made a pretty convincing case already. But as dominant as he’s been all season — and as essential as he’s been to USC’s operation — the punter says he isn’t satisfied with just conquering college football. Though he would love to keep up this season’s streak of no touchbacks.

“There’s always another level I can get to,” Czaplicki said last week. “I think, honestly, the only time I’ll ever be happy is if I’m a Pro Bowler. That’s the goal I’ve had for myself. That’s what I want to do.”

And after one of the best seasons ever for a specialist at USC, Czaplicki has never been more confident he’ll check that box soon enough.

“Basically everything these past few years that I’ve set my mind to,” he said, “I’ve accomplished.”

latimes.com