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ASU: One of the top punters in the nation ... will be a candidate for pre- and postseason honors ... can punt for distance or for the corner ... looks to pick up where he left off last year after earning honorable-mention all-conference honors and being named a Ray Guy Award semifinalist ... a preseason first-team All-Pac-10 selection by Athlon Sports Magazine ... had an outstanding spring, booting punts of 54 and 63 yards in the spring game ... is writing a weekly column for ASU's official web site, www.thesundevils.com, which presents a player's eye view one the season.
2000: Honorable-mention All-Pac-10 honoree ... a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award which is presented annually to the top punter in the nation ... handled punting duties in all 12 games ... averaged 41.3 yards per kick over 86 tries (3,551 yards) ... forced seven touchbacks and 15 fair catches ... had 30 punts downed inside the 20-yard-line ... was blocked only three times ... booted a 53-yarder vs. San Diego State ... punted 11 times (one shy of school record) for 463 yards and had three punts downed inside the 5-yard line vs. San Diego State ... was named Pac-10 Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts vs. San Diego State ... season-long was a 61-yarder vs. Colorado State ... punted three times for 124 yards vs. Utah State, downing one inside the 20-yard line and limiting the Aggies to zero returns ... two of his six punts for 226 yards vs. UCLA were downed inside the 20-yard-line for zero returns ... booted a 52-yard bomb, downed at the 8-yard-line, which was just one of three to stop inside the 20 vs. California ... downed three of four punts inside the 16-yard line vs. Oregon, including one at the 2-yard line ... knocked a 41-yarder to the 3-yard line vs. Stanford ... nestled five of eight punts inside the 20-yard line while still averaging 46 yards per kick in ASU's win at Arizona. 1999: Handled bulk of the punting duties throughout the season as Stephen Baker would periodically "pooch-punt" ... 59 total boots for a 38.9 average ... 21 punts were placed within the 20-yard line, while only three went into the end zone ... had season-long kick of 56 yards twice, at Washington and at Oregon ... had season-high nine punts in win over UCLA, averaging 43.9 yards in length ... season-best average of 48.3 yards on three punts in win over Washington State ... had punts downed at the Arizona five- and one-yard lines in victory over rival Wildcats.
JUNIOR COLLEGE: Attended Scottsdale Community College in 1998 ... earned the special teams MVP award ... coached by Ken Giovando.
HIGH SCHOOL: A 1998 graduate of Desert Mountain High School ... lettered two years in football, four years in track and two years in soccer ... was captain of the soccer team his junior year ... earned all-city and all-region honors his senior year in football and his junior year in soccer ... was the MVP in soccer in 1997 ... set a school record with a 66-yard punt in 1998 ... coached by Steve Belles.
PERSONAL: Major is broadcasting ... parents are David Murphy (insurance agent) and Diane (teacher) ... his stepmother, Collen, is a teacher for the Scottsdale Unified School District ... born Oct. 22, 1979, in St. Louis, Missouri ... has two brothers (Greg and Camden) ... lists most exciting experience in sports as making the playoffs in football his senior year in high school ... enjoys music, the outdoors and playing all sports ... full name is Nicholas Jon Murphy.
CAREER HIGHS: Punts: 12, vs. Washington (10/14/00). Punting Yards: 514, vs. Washington (10/14/00). Punting Average: 48.3, vs. Washington State (10/23/99).
Murphy's Career Statistics
Year G No. Yds. Avg. Lg. TB Blkd. I20
1999 12 68 2610 38.4 56 3 1 21
2000 12 86 3551 41.3 61 7 3 30
Career 24 154 6161 40.0 61 10 4 51
