[media-credit name=’Ben Smidt’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]Over the first three games, no Badger has been more consistent than punter Ken DeBauche. He has averaged over 40 yards per punt with significant hang time, just as he did throughout preseason workouts when he won the starting job over senior R.J. Morse.

Supplanting a two-year starter who averaged a solid 40.7 yards per punt last season is no simple task. When the starter also holds the sixth-highest punting yardage total in school history (6,451 yards), the challenge becomes even more daunting. But redshirt freshman DeBauche was confident heading into the spring that he could unseat the incumbent punter.

“To be honest, when I came in last year I thought I was going to win the job,” DeBauche said. “When I came in spring camp and into fall camp, I really thought I was going to win the job. I just never had any doubts. Even though last year it didn’t happen for me, I just kept up my confidence and knew that if I got out there I could do it.”

In the preseason, DeBauche made a strong impression on the UW coaching staff when he proved his mastery of the single most important quality for a punter: consistency.

“I consistently put the ball 45 yards with over a four-second hang time, and that’s what they want,” DeBauche said. “That’s what I showed them I could do on a consistent basis, and I think that’s what got me the job.”

Since earning the starting spot, DeBauche has been nearly flawless. Averaging 41.8 yards per punt, the Suamico, Wis., native has given the Badgers excellent field position all season. Coming into Saturday’s game against Arizona, Wisconsin’s average starting field position (37 yard line) was 16 yards better than their opposition (21 yard line).

“I think it has had a huge impact,” DeBauche said. “The coaches really let us know that we’re making a difference and that we are important for field position, and we have been. We’ve been pinning the teams back in their own territory so it’s an uphill battle for them. It’s hard for them to score when they’re back inside their 10 or inside their 20, so I think we have been a big impact.”

Aside from a miscue in the rain, DeBauche was spectacular in Saturday’s win over Arizona, dropping three of his four punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, including a 57-yard bomb. For the season, seven of DeBauche’s 12 punts (58 percent) have landed inside the 20. The freshman phenom currently ranks third in the Big Ten in punting average, behind Michigan State’s Brandon Fields and Michigan’s Adam Finley.

“The only thing that I have to work on is getting rid of that one punt that’s under 40 yards, that is shanked out of bounds,” DeBauche said. “That one punt is going to kill our momentum; it’s going to give the other team great field position. That can’t happen. We got to have a consistent punt every time, 40 yards with four-second hang time.”

Placing more than half of his punts inside the 20, including a pair of gems that landed inside the 5 against UNLV, DeBauche has proven himself a master of the directional punt. With his 57-yarder in Tucson, the versatile DeBauche showed that he is equally capable as a power punter.

“Wherever we are on the field, I’m going to do what needs to be done,” DeBauche said. “If we are on our own goal line, I’m going to try to get it out there as far as I can, get some good hang time and let our coverage unit get down there and tackle the guy, but I don’t really prefer one over the other.”

With his directional punting skills, DeBauche brings an element to the UW kicking game that was absent during the Morse era.

“One of the biggest differences between me and R.J. would be that I think directional punting is one of my strong points, and we never really did that when R.J. was the punter,” DeBauche said.

Though he was initially opposed to the idea of redshirting, DeBauche attributes his current success to the lessons he learned in his redshirt year.

“The biggest thing is that I got to focus on punting,” DeBauche said. “Before that, I didn’t really know how much time you had to put in to be a Division I punter. When I focused the whole first and second semester every practice I worked on getting better … Every day, I felt more confident in what I was doing.”

After refining his skills on the scout team in 2003, DeBauche has cemented himself as the starter this season. Though Morse remains poised to push for the starting job, DeBauche has shown no reason for concern.

“I think I’m confident in what I do and I can go out there and do it on a consistent basis,” DeBauche said.