Geoff Bough

Geoff Bough '03Bough led the NESCAC with a 38.2-yard punting average in 2001

AMHERST, MA – Growing up in Los Altos, California, Geoff Bough never dreamed of playing college football.It never even entered his mind.Drawing was an early passion.Perhaps he'd be a cartoonist, maybe even play a little water polo in college.But a football player?A punter, no less?He would've said you were nuts.Nevertheless, entering his senior year at Amherst, Bough is one of the finest punters in all of NCAA Division III and certainly the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC).His journey toward special teams immortality has been a circuitous one, to say the least.

As a kid Bough excelled in sports.Soccer was his favorite but he also played basketball and baseball.When a bone chip in his left knee forced him off the playing fields, he hopped in the pool and became an outstanding water polo player.It seemed there was nothing he couldn't do athletically, but football was never on his radar screen.

Looking for an academic challenge, Bough left Los Altos and enrolled at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where the class sizes were smaller and the instructors were more like professors.On a whim, he decided to play football, although he'd never really considered it before.His talent on the gridiron wasn't readily apparent.

"My first year was actually very tough," Bough remembers."I was on special teams and tried my hand at defensive back and wide receiver, but I wasn't playing much and didn't really know anything about football.It made me want to go back to water polo."

The following summer back in Los Altos, a chance encounter with an old soccer buddy proved fateful.His friend had turned his soccer talents toward place kicking and earned a scholarship to Dartmouth College.The conversation was an eye opener.
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When Bough returned to Andover, he was determined to make his mark as a field goal kicker.Punting was still the last thing on his mind.A torn muscle in his right quadriceps changed that.

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"I injured my leg in the first game of the season," Bough explains."I couldn't kick field goals and my kickoffs were about seven yards shorter than usual.For some reason the injury didn't hurt my punting so that's all I did the rest of the year."

There was a slight learning curve.

"I remember during our second game I had a couple of really bad punts and I came over to the sideline.
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His potential wasn't lost on Amherst head coach E.J. Mills, who saw a tape of the game and contacted Bough."I watched the video and he had four punts over 40 yards and a bunch inside the 20," says Mills."More importantly, it was the Exeter - Andover game, which is a huge rivalry, much like the Amherst - Williams game.It seemed like there were about 8,000 people in the stands.I figured if he could handle that kind of pressure in high school, he could definitely handle it in college."

Mills was right.
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Miraculously and fearlessly, Bough sprinted after the ball, caught it on a hop, turned, and in one motion floated a 24-yard scud harmlessly into Williams territory, averting what would have been a sure disaster.Williams was stunned and Amherst was jubilant.The play changed the complexion of the game as the Jeffs rallied from a 9-0 halftime deficit to earn a 20-12 win and their first outright Little Three title in 14 years.

"It was a critical play but, believe it or not, my Dad and I had actually practiced it over the summer," Bough quips."He purposely snapped balls over my head in the backyard all the time.We would talk about the proper way to pick the ball up and turn left so the kicking foot is in the right place when you spin around.
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For good measure, Bough blasted a career long 61-yard punt late in the fourth quarter, pinning the Ephs deep in their own territory, all but cementing the win for Amherst.The feeling carried over into his junior season as well when Bough was a First-Team All-NESCAC and ECAC Northeast All-Star selection, leading the conference and finishing 24th in the nation with a 38.2-yard average.He also launched four punts 50 yards or longer and placed 19 inside the opponents' 20-yard lines, which has become somewhat of a Bough trademark.

He was named the team's special teams player of the week so many times in 2001 that teammates jokingly referred to the distinction as the Geoff Bough Award.A tongue-in-cheek nickname evolved – MVP.

"(Former teammates) Pat McGee, Dan Lalli and Brian Landolfi coined the nickname last season," Bough confesses.
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Bough is an excellent student and a talented cartoonist with a wildly popular comic strip that appears weekly in the Amherst Student.Aptly titled Lord Geoff's World, the strip chronicles the exploits of two typical college guys and their experiences at Amherst.

"The characters themselves have no names so a lot of people assume the lead character, the guy with the poked up hair, is Lord Geoff.In reality, they're just average students here at Amherst.I try to find something happening on campus, usually during the past week, and poke fun at it.Some of the stuff is real fresh and can be quite edgy.
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Bough couldn't have drawn it up any better.

All-ECAC senior Geoff Bough is second in the NESCAC in punting with a 38.0-yard average.
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Geoff Bough (29 punts/38.0-yd avg)

On special teams, the kicking game could be one of Amherst's most potent weapons with First-Team All-NESCAC senior Geoff Bough and sophomore David Bodner returning at punter and place kicker, respectively.
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Geoff Bough (56 punts/38.2-yd avg)

All-NESCAC senior Geoff Bough is second in the NESCAC in punting with 14 boots for a 38.1-yard average, including three inside the 20.

AMHERST Statistical Leaders PASSING
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Geoff Bough (14 punts/38.1-yd avg)

By Geoff Bough