ISU wide receiver and kick returner J.J. Moses is one of the most electrifying players in the Big 12.

This season he has averaged 11.3 yards per punt return with a long of 39. He averaged 20.8 yards per return on kickoffs, his longest being 45 yards.He was named to the all-Big 12 first team for his returns.

One thing is missing, however. Moses has yet to return a punt for a touchdown, that is just one of the issues about punt returning he was willing to talk to the Daily about.

Iowa State Daily: What is the best kind of punt to return, a line-drive or a high one?

J.J. Moses: I like a short line-drive punt to catch. It seems like those are the ones that are easier to break. So that’s what I like.

ISD: What are you thinking about when the ball is in the air? What is going through your head, what are your thoughts?

J.J.: Over the years I’ve matured a lot back there, and I try to tell myself just to relax. When I’m out there, I love being back there. I’m just back there trying to make a big play, but when I’m back there, I’m just really relaxed and waiting for the ball to come to me.

ISD: When you get the ball in your hands, do you have envisioned where you’re going to go, what cut you’re going to make or is it just kind of an ad-lib?

J.J.: It’s like when the ball is punted everything is in slow motion, from the time it’s in the air until the time it gets in my arms. Once it gets into my arms everything is back to full speed again. I really don’t have any moves planned, but I can feel where the defenders are.

ISD: What is your best move when you get the ball?

J.J.: It depends on how the ball is hanging up in the air. I don’t really have favorite moves. I just go out there thinking if that’s what I’ve got to do, I’ll do it. I just don’t have too many favorite moves.

ISD: What is the scariest thing to see when you catch the ball and look forward?

J.J.: I’m never scared back there, that’s the thing about it. I think that is what helps punt returners. You can’t be scared back there, you can’t fear nothing. That’s how I am. When I’m catching, I know the price and the penalties that sometimes you could either get hit real hard or you could make a touchdown, so I’m not really fearful back there.

ISD: It seems like we don’t see very many fair catches. Do you consider it or are you looking to run the ball every time?

J.J.: I don’t hate anything in this world, but that is one thing that I hate doing is fair catching the ball. It seems like I’m always trying to help the team out and make a big play for the team. That’s something I try to do all the time, so whenever the ball comes my way, I give it my all. Fair catching is something I would do if I had to, but chances are I like going ahead and just catching it. If I get hit, I get hit.

ISD: Can you take all of that and describe the perfect punt scenario? From when they kick it, when you get it and what you’ll see.

J.J.: I like it when a ball is a really short, low kick. I would like for our defense to rush and almost block the punt, and the punter barely got it off and it was a short line-drive punt. As soon as I catch the ball I see a lane right up the middle and for me not to put any moves on, just run straight up, north and south. It’s just me and the punter, and I just give him a little fake and I go into the endzone.

ISD: Would that be the most embarrassing thing, then, for the punt returner to get tackled by the punter?

J.J.: [laughing] No, because I’ve been tackled by the punter almost every time it seems like. The most embarrassing thing would be if you were one-on-one with the punter, and he just ran you down or something like that.

ISD: You haven’t returned a kick or a punt for a touchdown. How bad do you want to do that in this game, is that a goal?

J.J.: That’s some of the goals I’ve set. At the same time, I’ve been very patient; that is something I’ve learned to develop over the years, and I believe it will happen in due time.

ISD: Do you have any celebration or something special you would break out if you returned a kick?

J.J.: When I’m laying down sometimes, especially the summer-time before the season started, I used to say ‘what if I broke a long run against Iowa’ things like that, what would I do in the endzone? When I did break that run, I don’t think about it. I just want to celebrate with the team, so most of the time I just give the ball back to the referee and thank God.