Everybody loves a perfectly executed fake punt return. No matter what form they come in, trick plays in all shapes and sizes give college football a special flare. The problem in college football, though, is that trick plays, and surprise formations, can sometimes result in an absolutely disastrous ending.
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The Kent State Golden Flashes are far from an elite football program. In 2012, Darrell Hazell's team went 11-3 losing the MAC title game and the GoDaddy.com Bowl to end that season. Since then, the Golden Flashes have been less than stellar. During some Tuesday night MACtion during the 2018 season, Kent State added another highlight to their legacy that's going to live on much longer than this terrible punt even traveled.
During the team's 48-14 drubbing at the hands of the Buffalo Bulls, backup quarterback Dustin Crum and the Kent State offense took the field on fourth down late in the first quarter. In an attempt to fool the Bulls' defense and pin them deep, Crum took the snap at Buffalo's 49-yard-line and sent a punt up into the New York night sky.
I'd be willing to bet nine out of 10 people reading this right now could have punted this football farther than the sophomore did...
Kent State's Disastrous 0-Yard Punt
Here’s Kent State’s disastrous negative punt magnified by the wind: #MACtion pic.twitter.com/fbJhgUylxi
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) November 7, 2018
MORE: The Longest Punt in NFL History Went for a Ridiculous 98 Yards
Officially, Crum's first career boot goes into the books as a zero-yard punt as it sailed out-of-bounds, and for his sake, I hope it's his last one.
To help Crum's claim of "Worst Punt Ever," the National Weather Service did report 40 mph wind gusts on the night in full blown #FlashFAST winds.
We have arrived. Feel the #FlashFAST wind 💨 pic.twitter.com/svp2lGDv1Y
— Kent State Football (@KentStFootball) November 6, 2018
So, was Buffalo's punter out for the night? Nope. In fact, junior punter Derek Adams, who was named Second-Team All-MAC in 2017, punted nine times on the night. Apparently, Crum was the likely candidate to help swing momentum back to the Kent State despite being down 21-0.
Two minutes after Crum's ill-fated punt, Buffalo scored their fourth touchdown of the night to take a 27-0 lead, and never looked back.
It wasn't all bad for the sophomore quarterback, though, who managed to throw and rush for Kent State's only scores during the final 10 minutes of the game after the team went down 48-0.
This post was originally published on November 7, 2018, but this legendary failed punt lives on forever.
