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FEATURE
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
NOT YOUR AVERAGE PLACEKICKER
With a reputation for making tackles after kickoffs, Jacob Branstetter has shown he is not afraid to bring down a returner
By Clark Goble
cgoble@kansan.com
All Missouri's Jeremy Maclin needed was a few blocks to get his team back into last year's Border Showdown. The receiver, now playing in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles, fielded a short kick from Kansas kicker Jacob Branstetter and found a gap down the left sideline. He was through it in five strides. With a swarm of gold jerseys leading, there was one player between Maclin and a touchdown.
And then Maclin got YouTubed. By the kicker.
"I'm not going to try to say that I chased him down or I'm faster than him," Branstetter says. "I just happened to catch him when he wasn't looking."
Branstetter, now a junior, didn't just take Maclin down. With a low hit, he sent Maclin's legs flying into the air and his helmet into the ground.
The tackle was one of seven Branstetter made last year, thereby eliminating any notion that he is a traditional kicker.
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THE WAVE SEPTEMBER11,2009
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN