UT receiver Thompson's viral punt block earns MAC weekly honors

9/3/2018

University of Toledo senior receiver Cody Thompson was named the Mid-American Conference West Division special teams player of the week Monday for his performance Saturday against Virginia Military Institute at the Glass Bowl.

Thompson recorded a punt block touchdown that is not seen often. He rushed up the middle of Toledo’s punt block formation and grabbed the ball right from VMI punter Reed King’s foot, thensecured the ball without it hitting the ground in the end zone for a touchdown.

Video of Thompson’s punt block went viral on social media and at first he didn’t realize he had the ball after coming through the line basically untouched.

That's one way to score a touchdown! @BroadcasterZach @ESPNAssignDesk #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/by5tUTdVDd

— BCSN (@BCSNsports) September 2, 2018

“It kind of happened so fast, and everyone on the sideline was asking if I caught it,” Thompson said. “I didn’t really know what happened. It just kind of ended up in my chest. All credit goes to our special teams coach [Robby Discher]. He drew up our block look and it worked out to exactly what he said. It was a great call by him.”

Contact Brian Buckey at bbuckey@theblade.com, 419-724-6110, or on Twitter @BrianBuckey.