by At some point early in Saturday’s TV broadcast of the Montana Grizzlies’ upset win over No. 3 Northern Iowa, just after Jerry Louie-McGee danced for plus-yardage on his first punt return of the day, one of the broadcast’s color commentators dubbed him “Mr. Electricity.”
Turns out “Mr. Electricity” was about the best description you could have come up with.
Louie-McGee would go on to rack up a game-high 162 all-purpose yards and thrill Griz fans with one of the most electric punt returns for a touchdown in Montana history to give UM the edge in a tense 20-14 win.
With a freshman breakout performance for the ages, Louie-McGee has been awarded the ROOT Sports Big Sky Conference Special Teams Player of the Week the league announced on Monday.
The Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, native led the Grizzlies in pass receptions, hauling in five for a total of 33 yards. His biggest impact, however, came in the punt return game, where he ran back three punts for 118 yards, highlighted by an 81-yard touchdown.
“I’m so glad we gave him a shot to return punts. He basically gave us a chance to win the ballgame because of his punt return,” said head coach Bob Stitt.
“We knew he could do it, you just had to get him the ball in the open. People don’t realize how hard he is to tackle. Most punt returns will be one where they get through and they make one guy miss. He made like 11 people miss. It was crazy. That was one of the best punt returns, if not the best punt returns I’ve ever seen.”
Louie-McGee’s 118 punt return yards against UNI is the third-highest single game performance in the nation so far this season. Two players sit in front of him on the national list, with the national leader only tallying eight more yards.
With the addition of the 81-yard punt return on Saturday, he leads the nation in punt return yards, averaging 39.9 yards per game this season.
