(AP) -- Punters are usually the first players on the field, either in practice or on game days, and the last to be recognized. For No. 21 Missouri, improvements in the punting game have quietly helped the program ascend from perennial loser to annual contender.
From 1996 to 2007, the Tigers finished in the bottom two in the Big 12 Conference in net punting nine times. Entering the 2008 season, coach Gary Pinkel and his staff decided they'd had enough.
Pinkel and punting coach Andy Hill checked other programs seeking ways to improve and noticed Wake Forest had enjoyed success with a rugby style, in which the punter rolls out and drives the ball at a lower angle to allow it to bounce for additional yardage.
Missouri's getting those extra yards now.
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