As a specialty player, there ends up being a lot of down time during fall camp – especially on days with two different practices.

And while the specialist meetings are a lot shorter than the offensive and defensive player meetings, they don’t just head home early.

“There’s a lot of FIFA that’s played in the locker room in-between meetings,” Netten said. “We watch our film that we kick, but that only takes about 15-20 minutes. There’s a lot of side lifting…stuff kickers do. Then a lot of FIFA playing, and that’s about it.”

Netten explained the tournament style competition between the specialists, something that he currently has the most wins in.

“The other guys aren’t very good honestly,” Netten said. “That’s really what it is. A lot of other guys on the team I lose to. But the specialists, we have to practice more.”

And while there may be some extra down time, the specialists still have areas to work on. Sophomore punter Colin Downing is continuing to improve throughout camp, but the biggest improvements that coaches want to see comes from his consistency.

“When we punt, we want to put it in a spot and consistently putting it there with coverable hang time is what we want out of that spot,” said ISU coach Paul Rhoads. “We’d like to have a net punt of 39 yards for the season. First thing is, you have to hit it above 39 [yards]…and you’ve got to let the coverage team get down there.”

Downing, a Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin native, handled most of the punting duties last season. In his 69 attempts, he averaged nearly 40 yards per punt, enough to earn him a spot on ESPN’s Big 12 All-Underclassman team.

Downing hopes to bring more of a relaxed tone to the field this fall, something that he has been working on in camp. He said that his focus isn’t as much on getting the ball to a specific spot or distance, but rather just staying calm and letting muscle memory take over.

“I think a big piece of it is not so much thinking about where the ball needs to go and just getting yourself aligned and knowing that you know what to do,” Downing said. “That’s been a little tough for me this camp, but you just kind of have to remind yourself. That’s a big thing with kicking and punting. You just have to remind yourself that you’re the best, and you’re there for a reason.”

But as fall camp comes to a close and the first game rapidly approaches, Downing is just focused on improving the little things.

“I think I kind of got a step back somewhere in there, and this fall camp has really kind of humbled me in a way,” Downing said. “It’s just taught me to really work on the little things. Definitely it’s been a little bit of a struggle, but we’re getting there. We’re getting back to where we were at the end of last season…Hopefully this season will be great.”