Ohio State dipped into the transfer portal to find some special teams depth on Saturday when it secured a commitment from former Buffalo punter Anthony Venneri as a preferred walk-on.
Vinneri, a Hamilton, Ontario, native who entered the transfer portal on April 30, comes to Columbus after serving as the Bulls’ starting punter across his first two collegiate seasons. He attempted 95 punts from 2022-23 that went for 4,131 yards, good for a 43.5-yard average. His longest punt went 64 yards, and he had 24 punts that went at least 50 yards and 27 that landed inside the 20-yard-line.
Vinneri averaged a school-record 43.96 yards per punt last season, good for 30th in the FBS in punting average and just .27 points above former Ohio State punter Jesse Mirco, who transferred to Vanderbilt in January. That record eclipsed his own mark he set as a freshman in 2022, when he averaged 43.0 yards per punt, a mark that earned him FWAA All-American honors.
Vinneri, who has two years of collegiate eligibility remaining, enters an Ohio State program that has two other punters on its roster in redshirt freshman Joe McGuire and incoming 6-7 freshman Nick McLarty, who committed to the Buckeyes in March after spending time in the Australian Football League. While McLarty is the only scholarship punter on the roster, Vinneri will have the opportunity to earn the starting role this fall because the Buckeyes are expected to hold an open competition at the position.
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