Penn State Football Punter Riley Thompson Returning For 2024 Season
The Australian sensation isn’t done yet, folks.
Penn State football punter Riley Thompson will return to play for the Nittany Lions in 2024, he announced Saturday. Thompson’s NCAA eligibility was uncertain when he transferred to Penn State last offseason and remained so through the 2023 season, though he wrote that he has been granted a two-year extension by the NCAA.
“I have absolutely loved my first season playing in front of you guys at Beaver Stadium,” Thompson wrote to fans in a post. “Job’s not finished.”
Through his first season with Penn State, Thompson has taken 46 punts, totaling 2,080 yards. He’s registered 13 punts of 50 yards or longer and placed 16 of his shots inside the 20-yard line.
Thompson transferred to Penn State from Florida Atlantic, where he served as the Owls’ punter for one season. There, Thompson punted 61 times for a total of 2,770 yards with a longest punt of 71 yards, which still stands as his longest collegiate punt to date. He placed 26 punts inside the 20-yard line and only gave opponents three touchbacks.
Before playing college football, Thompson played Australian rules football at Haileybury, which created a debate regarding his collegiate eligibility. Even during the season, Thompson avoided answering questions about his eligibility and said that he was just focused on the games at hand.
Thompson will next take the field for Penn State on December 30, when the Nittany Lions face Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl.
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