Punter kick-starts defense for Hogs

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas defensive coordinator Robb Smith was laughing, but not joking, when he was asked what he thought about punter Toby Baker.

"Toby is my favorite guy," Smith said. "I'm a big Toby Baker fan. Whether it's punt or kickoff coverage, that really is the first snap of defense."

The first snap of defense has been going pretty well for the Razorbacks through two games. Baker, a fifth-year senior from Memphis University School, leads the SEC and ranks fourth in the nation with an average of 49.4 yards per punt.

"There's a guy that's mastered his craft," Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said after the Razorbacks' 41-38 upset of No. 15 TCU on Saturday. "We talk all the time about being a great you. Toby Baker shows up every day and performs at the highest level possible."

Speaking on his radio show Thursday night, Bielema said Baker had been nominated for the Burlsworth Trophy and that he was likely to be invited to a postseason all-star game.

"NFL scouts are drooling over him," Bielema said.

Arkansas specialists coach Rory Segrest said Baker is hitting the ball extremely well and has a chance to make an NFL roster in the coming years.

"He's obviously got the leg strength, and he's shown that he's going to be that consistent guy and be able to get the job done," Segrest said.

Baker, who will turn 23 on Sunday, has been outstanding through two games. Seven of his 10 punts have traveled 50-plus yards, including 4 of 5 during the victory at TCU. His longest, a 59-yarder, was his first, and it helped set the tone Arkansas wanted to create. Baker put the punt from the Arkansas 13 to the TCU 28 with no return from the dangerous KaVontae Turpin.

"It's just the satisfaction of helping out our team," Baker said. "That's really my job. My job isn't to average a certain amount or get numbers. It's to help out our defense and get the opposing team as far away as possible and put our defense in a good position."

Baker's big day against the Horned Frogs so impressed Bielema that he proclaimed late Saturday night, "If Toby Baker doesn't get SEC special teams player of the week, I'm going to quit."

Baker found out about Bielema's compliment and casually approached him on the team plane to tell his coach, "Don't quit."

Auburn kicker Daniel Carlson won the weekly SEC award by scoring 21 points, including a touchdown on a fake field goal.

It didn't change how Bielema felt about his veteran punter.

"I have one other punter that's still kicking in the league ... [Jacksonville Jaguars punter] Brad Nortman, who is phenomenal, but Toby is as good a punter as I've ever been around," Bielema said.

Baker had growing pains before reaching his current status.

On his first punt for the Razorbacks, a relief appearance for Sam Irwin-Hill against Alabama-Birmingham in 2014, Baker let fly a 36-yard line drive that Jamarcus Nelson returned 35 yards to the Arkansas 10 to set up a Blazers field goal.

"I've been thinking back about Toby, and a couple of years ago, when I first came in, and just how uncomfortable we were even putting him in a game," Segrest said. "He's really developed himself, putting in that time and effort in the offseason. ... There's room for improvement, just like any position, but he's doing a great job for us right now."

Baker's shortest punt of the season was a 37-yarder last week in the fourth quarter that Bielema asked him to kick out of bounds. The punt went from the Arkansas 13 to the 50.

"Yeah, I kind of swiped across that one," Baker said.

Baker's first punt of the year went 39 yards, but that one pinned Louisiana Tech on its 8-yard line in the first quarter. His next punt went 43 yards, then he hit seven in a row of 50-plus yards.

"I've hit a few that need to be higher," Baker said when asked to critique his work. "I mean no punt is perfect. I can improve on every single punt that I had Saturday and the week before and today out there at practice. I need to get the ball higher."

Opponents also have returned a couple of his long punts for big yardage. Louisiana Tech's Trent Taylor had a 32-yard return on a 55-yard punt just before the Bulldogs missed a field goal in the fourth quarter. Last week, Turpin had a 34-yard return of a 52-yard punt that set up TCU's go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter.

On that play, multiple Razorbacks had a chance to bring Turpin down on about the TCU 26-yard line before he wriggled free, ran another 24 yards and was forced out of bounds by Baker at the 50.

"Yeah, that was a little scary, but I got him out of bounds," Baker said.

Arkansas ranks No. 24 in net punting at 42.2 yards per punt.

Baker, a quarterback and punter at Memphis University School, grew up as a Tennessee fan, like his father, but the situation at Arkansas was more favorable for a chance at playing time. In December, Bielema rewarded Baker with a scholarship, highlighting a season in which Baker punted at Neyland Stadium during Arkansas' 24-20 victory at Tennessee and at the Liberty Bowl, his hometown stadium, in the Razorbacks' 45-23 victory over Kansas State.

After averaging 41.2 yards per punt last season, Baker has raised his game to another level. He credits strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert for tailoring his workouts to build leg strength.

Baker has become a weapon that Bielema, Smith and his teammates recognize.

"It's really satisfying, and it helps out when the defense comes off the field and gives me fist bumps and says, 'Keep doing what you're doing.' It's pretty fun," Baker said.

"To play this game the way we want to play it programmatically, with field position, he's another guy that just quietly goes out and works hard at his craft every day, and I have the utmost respect for him," Smith said.

Sports on 09/16/2016