logo
Reports: Tippecanoe's Ben Sauls signed by Pittsburgh Steelers

Reports: Tippecanoe's Ben Sauls signed by Pittsburgh Steelers

Yahoo27-04-2025
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – Former Tippecanoe kicker Ben Sauls has been signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent, per multiple reports. The former Red Devil has emerged as one of the top kicker prospects in this year's draft after a historic college career at Pitt.
The 2020 Tippecanoe grad and former Penn Station Athlete of the Month capped off his five-year stint with one of the best season performances for a Panthers special-teams player.
Sauls made 6-of-7 field goal attempts from 50-plus yards, with his six field goals of 50-plus yards setting a Pitt single-season record.
The Tipp City native matched the longest field goal in Pitt history with a 58-yarder. He also converted 23 of his last 26 field goal attempts, including a school-record 15 consecutive makes.
He was the lone kicker selected to the Pro Football Focus (PFF) 27-member All-America squad after leading Pitt in scoring with 107 points on 21-of-24 field goals and 44-of-44 extra points.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

‘We have to be obsessed with the football': UM preaching turnovers on defense
‘We have to be obsessed with the football': UM preaching turnovers on defense

Miami Herald

time15 hours ago

  • Miami Herald

‘We have to be obsessed with the football': UM preaching turnovers on defense

New Miami Hurricanes defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman has one overarching message for his group. 'We have to be obsessed with the football,' Hetherman said. Hetherman's defense thrives on chaos up front that leads to turnovers on the back end. It's a formula that succeeded at his last stop at Minnesota, which tied for seventh nationally with 17 interceptions. That's a number the Hurricanes haven't hit in a single season since 2017, when they tied for third nationally with 31 total turnovers (17 interceptions, 14 fumble recoveries). They went 10-3 that season, albeit dropping their final three games in a road loss to Pitt, an ACC Championship Game defeat to Clemson and Orange Bowl loss to Wisconsin. The Hurricanes followed that 2017 season with another top-20 season in total turnovers in 2018 with 25 takeaways (16 interceptions, nine fumble recoveries) but have more or less been outside the top tier since. Only once in the past six years has Miami ranked in the top 25 nationally in turnovers forced. 2019: 20 turnovers (10 interceptions, 10 fumble recoveries) tied for 40th nationally 2020: 16 turnovers (seven interceptions, nine fumble recoveries) tied for 40th nationally 2021: 11 turnovers (eight interceptions, three fumble recoveries) tied for 119th nationally 2022: 22 turnovers (14 interceptions, eight fumble recoveries) tied for 22nd nationally 2023: 18 turnovers (12 interceptions, six fumble recoveries) tied for 59th nationally 2024: 18 turnovers (14 interceptions, four fumble recoveries) tied for 58th nationally Hetherman hopes to change that. 'There's a group of guys that every day they're obsessed with the ball and that's the No. 1 thing in practice. How many strip attempts do we get and how many times the ball touches the ground. If the ball is down, we are scooping and scoring and then for balls in the air, we have to have it. That's been the No. 1 message.' While the entire defense is responsible for making turnovers happen, Hetherman will need to see production from his a secondary that has been nearly completely overhauled from last season. Sophomore cornerback OJ Frederique is the only returning starter from the unit. Redshirt sophomore Damari Brown, who missed almost all of last season with a foot injury, and sophomore Dylan Day, who played almost exclusively on special teams, are the only other returnees that seem poised for playing time early. Beyond that, Hetherman has a half dozen transfers at his disposal, several of whom have shown they have ball-hawking potential at their previous stops. Safety Zechariah Poyser was a Freshman All-American at Jacksonville State last year after logging three interceptions, eight pass breakups and a pair of fumble recoveries while allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete just 47.8% of passes against him in coverage. Sophomore Xavier Lucas, who is poised to start at cornerback opposite Frederique, intercepted a pass and and had three pass breakups in 21 targets against him last season in a limited role with Wisconsin. And cornerback Ethan O'Connor, a redshirt sophomore, intercepted four passes and six pass breakups in 60 targets against him last season at Washington State. Safety Jakobe Thomas and cornerbacks Keionte Scott and Charles Brantley round out the newcomers. Hetherman said last week that right now he has five cornerbacks he's comfortable playing and that there will likely be a rotation at safety, with Poyser, Thomas, Day and a fourth likely to include one of Markeith Williams, Bryce Fitzgerald and Isaiah Taylor. 'We start every single unit meeting with the ball tape. How many times did we affect the ball in practice today?' Hetherman said. 'There's been days where it's been good and there's other days where the offense has done a really good job of protecting the football. In camp, it's weird, we want to get as many as we can, but on offense they don't want to give it to us at all. But we do as many drills as we can, we try to affect throwing lanes for the quarterback, strip attempt drills or different ways to get the football out in our [individual] periods and in our defensive periods.'

National League previews: Who plays who this weekend
National League previews: Who plays who this weekend

Yahoo

time5 days ago

  • Yahoo

National League previews: Who plays who this weekend

BRAINTREE Town will be looking to keep hold of top spot as Steve Pitt's side make the trip to Durham to lock horns with Hartlepool United. Boston United's clash with Morecambe was postponed on Saturday due to the latter's ongoing financial issues. The Pilgrims visit Isuzu FA Trophy holders Aldershot Town. The two sides promoted from National League South last term, Truro City and Boreham Wood, will be searching for their first three points of the season when they face title hopefuls York City and Carlisle United respectively. Robbie Savage welcomes Yeovil Town to the New Lawn in his first home outing as Forest Green Rovers boss while Rochdale host Altrincham in the early kick-off. Eastleigh and Gateshead face off with both sides looking to get off the mark for the season and Sutton United host Solihull Moors. Scunthorpe United's first home match since securing promotion from the National League North sees Woking come to town. Wealdstone will be hoping to follow-up an impressive opening day win over Truro City when FC Halifax Town head to Ruislip.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store