2001 Football Roster
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Roster
Mike Shafer
- Position:
- Punter/Kicker
- Height:
- 5-9
- Weight:
- 177
- Class:
- Junior
- Hometown:
- Sarasota, FL
- High School:
- Riverview
Career Biography (PDF Format)
At SU: Four letters ... First true freshman and one of two to play in 1999 ... Owns SU career records for punting yards (10,073) and punts (249) and ranks fourth on the yards per punt record list (40.5 ypp) ... Member of the 1999 Fall and 2000 Spring Athletic Director’s Honor Roll ... Senior Year: One of 23 to play in every game ... SU’s punt coverage team led the BIG EAST and ranked seventh in the nation in net punting, averaging 38.09 yards per punt play ... Shafer forced opponents to start at or inside their own 15-yard line 21 times and pinned opponents at-or-inside the five-yard line five times in 2002 ... On kickoffs he forced opponents to start from inside their own 25-yard line in nine of SU's 12 games and had 14 touchbacks ... Opponents’ average drive start after his kickoffs was on their own 23-yard line ... Averaged 37.9 yards on seven punts, including a long punt of 47 yards at BYU ... Had six punts for 238 yards, an average of 39.7, and two inside the 20 against North Carolina ... Put two of three punts inside the 20 and averaged 41.3 yards per punt against Rhode Island ... Averaged 41.2 yards on six punts, including a long punt of 50 yards and one inside the 20 at Auburn ... One of his five punts was downed at the four-yard line and he averaged 33.6 yards per punt at Pittsburgh ... Averaged 42 yards on seven punts, including a season-best 54-yarder, and put six punts inside the 20-yard line at Temple ... Had six punts for 241 yards, a 40.2 average, including one for 51 yards at West Virginia ... Averaged 37.8 yards on five punts, including three inside the 20, against Rutgers ... Hit 2-of-2 extra points and averaged 38 yards on six punts, including one downed at the two-yard line with 1:33 left in the game, at Central Florida ... Had five punts for 193 yards (38.6), including two inside the 20, and hit 2-of-2 PATs against Virginia Tech ... Punted four times for 167 yards, including a 46-yard punt, at Boston College ... Punted nine times for 353 yards (39.2 average), including a 49-yard punt, against Miami ... Junior Year: One of 35 players to participate in all 13 games ... Set Syracuse single-season record with 77 punts in 2001 ... That mark is second on the BIG EAST single-season record list ... His 3,282 punting yards is an SU single-season standard and ranks third on the BIG EAST single-season record list ... Averaged 42.6 yards per punt ... Handled kickoff duties in 11 games and placekicking duties in one game ... Had 22 touchbacks on 55 kickoffs ... Averaged 40.4 yards on seven punts, placed one punt inside the 20, and missed his only field goal attempt from 26 yards against Georgia Tech in the Kickoff Classic ... Averaged 39.9 yards on 10 punts while placing two inside the 20 at Tennessee ... Averaged 46.0 yards on five punts and placed one punt inside the 20 against Central Florida ... Placed two punts inside the 20 with an average of 38.8 yards on four kicks against Auburn ... At Rutgers, Shafer averaged 49.0 yards on three punts, including a career-long 68-yarder that pinned the Scarlet Knights at their one-yard line in the fourth quarter ... At Pittsburgh he averaged 43.0 yards on eight punts, placed two inside the 20 and he put six of seven kickoffs in the endzone with four resulting in touchbacks ... Had five punts for a 45.6 yard average and had three touchbacks in seven kickoffs against Temple ... Punted nine times for 38.6 yards per kick, placed two punts inside the 20 including a fourth quarter boot that pinned the Hokies at their three-yard line and led to a safety ... He had one touchback and the Hokies' average starting field position following a Shafer kickoff was the 19-yard line ... Punted 11 times for 502 yards, an average of 45.6, placed two inside the 20 against West Virginia ... The 11 punts in one game tied Shafer with Jim Dragotta (vs. Boston University, 1948) and Jim Goodwill (vs. Florida State, 1978) for third on the SU single-game most-punts list ... At Miami, he averaged 40.8 yards on 10 punts and directed three inside the 20 ... Punted three times against Boston College for a 49.0 average ... Set a Syracuse bowl-game high and Insight.com Bowl record with 11 punts for 493 yards ... He placed four punts inside the Kansas State 20-yard line ... Sophomore Year: Played in all 11 games, one of 26 players to compete in each game ... Syracuse’s second-leading scorer with 56 points ... Fifth in the BIG EAST in scoring among kickers ... Ranked 14th on the single-season punting list with 2,086 yards ... Averaged 40.9 yards per punt ... Connected on 7-of-20 field goal attempts ... Made 35-of-37 PATs ... Kicked his first career field goal at Cincinnati ... Recorded a 63-yard punt at West Virginia ... Had nine punts land inside the opponent’s 20-yard line ... Posted eight punts for 329 yards against Miami ... Punted seven times for 295 yards against Brigham Young ... Punted the ball six times for 245 yards at West Virginia ... Had five punts for 213 yards at Cincinnati ... Punted six times for 217 yards at Temple ... Recorded 208 yards on five punts against Rutgers ... Posted 137 yards on three punts against Buffalo ... Had three punts for 130 yards at Boston College ... Handled kickoff duties in four games, averaging 62 yards per kickoff ... Freshman Year: Played in all 12 games ... One of 28 players to participate in every contest ... Averaged 38.4 yards per punt ... Had four punts of more than 50 yards ... Landed 10-of-52 punts inside the 20-yard line ... Had a career-high nine punts against Virginia Tech for a then personal-best 369 yards ... Had a season-best 58-yard punt against Michigan ... Punted six times for 232 yards, including one of 49 yards at Toledo ... Had six punts for a total of 259 yards against Michigan ... Had six punts for 225 yards at Pittsburgh ... Punted three times for 127 yards, including a long of 48 yards at Miami ... Had three punts for 99 yards against Kentucky in the Music City Bowl ... High School: Second-team Tom Lemming All-American and Super Prep All-Regional selection ... USA Today All-American ... GTE Academic All-American ... Two-time first-team all-state and all-area ... Three-year football letterwinner ... Kicked two 54-yard field goals ... 19-for-28 career field goals ... Punting average of 43.4 yards and 57 touchbacks ... Played in PAL Bowl Game as a senior ... Recruited by retired SU assistant coach Deek Pollard ... Personal: Michael Wayne Shafer ... Born October 22, 1980, in Sarasota, Fla. ... Son of Tom and Susan Shafer ... One sister ... Hobby is aviation ... Majoring in finance.
Shafer's Career Statistics
Punts Yards Avg. Long Inside 20 1999 52 1,998 38.4 58 10 2000 51 2,086 40.9 63 9 2001 77 3,282 42.6 68 16 2002 69 2,707 39.2 54 23 Totals 249 10,073 40.5 57 FG-FGA PAT-Att. Points 2000 7-20 35-37 56 2001 0-1 1- 1 1 2002 0-0 5- 5 5 Totals 7-21 41-43 62Shafer's Career Bests
Punts Number 11 vs. West Virginia, 2001 Longest 68 vs. Rutgers, 2001 Yards 502 vs. West Virginia, 2001 Average 49.5 vs. Virginia Tech, 2000 PATs Made 7 vs. Buffalo, 2000 Attempted 8 vs. Buffalo, 2000 Field Goals Made 2 vs. Boston College, 2000 Attempts 5 vs Pittsburgh, 2000 Long 37 vs. Pittsburgh, 2000
