ARKADELPHIA -- It didn't take long for Jake Ford to win over a room full of Arkansans during a preseason meeting of the Ouachita Baptist football team in August.
Ford, a 25-year-old redshirt-junior punter from Australia, struck a chord with his new mates in the time it took for him to explain the meaning of the artwork that adorns each of his arms, from shoulder to forearm.
"He got to tell us about some of his tattoos," OBU running back Brockton Brown said, "and it was the first time I really got to hear him talk, other than 'hey, what's up,' and it had everybody rolling."
"It's been a lot of fun," OBU Coach Todd Knight said of Ford's impact on the team. "They just love him."
And that was before Ford started making on-the-field contributions to an 11-0 team that plays Saturday in the second round of NCAA Division II playoffs.
Kickoff against the University of Indianapolis (11-1) is set for 1 p.m. at Cliff Harris Stadium.
Ford and the Tigers lead NCAA Division II in net punting (39.7 yards per kick) and have committed the fewest turnovers (6) in 11 games, all contributing to a field-position advantage of nearly 13 yards per possession this season.
"We call it hidden yardage," Ford said. "That's the best way to explain it."
Knight said Ford's punting has a lot to do with OBU's success, landing 24 of 43 kicks inside the 20.
"The guy is awesome," Knight said. "He's serious about his trade."
"He's so dynamic," special teams coach Brandin Natzke said.
Brown, who is a member of the punt team, said Ford is a perfectionist.
"He works on it more than anybody I've ever seen," Brown said. "It's crazy how he works at it."
Ford's arrival in Arkansas from southern Australia is not as unusual as it might seem.
Wide receivers coach Spencer Knight, Todd Knight's son, is the man primarily responsible.
Spencer Knight served as an assistant at the University of Memphis at a time when the school was pursuing an Australian punter.
Knight developed a connection with Nathan Chapman and John Smith who run Prokick Australia, and they told Knight that Ford would fit nicely at OBU.
Australian-born punters are far from an outlier in college football.
Ford is one of more than 60 of Prokick Australia's students who are now producing at the highest levels of college football and in the NFL, with another 15-20 coming in each year.
"Jake has done an amazing job," Chapman said. "He's been rock solid all year and played a massive part in keeping the team strong with field position."
Ford is from the same class of Prokick players that produced Michael Dickson, the former Texas punter who now plays for the Seattle Seahawks, and University of Cincinnati punter John Smith.
Dickson won the Ray Guy award as the nation's top college punter one year ago, and Smith is a finalist for this year's award.
"He's a superstar," Ford said of Dickson, who was named MVP of last year's Texas Bowl, dropping 10 punts inside the Missouri 20 in Texas' victory.
Ford will have to wait until next season -- he plans to return to OBU -- to receive any postseason honors from the Great American Conference or NCAA Division II.
Ford was overlooked when postseason honors came out because his overall punting average (40.4 per kick) was not as impressive as his net punting numbers. Ford, who grew up in a small town two hours north of Melbourne, said he doesn't feel slighted.
"But even though I didn't get any accolades, my coaches and my teammates know that I go out there and do my job," he said.
Ford, without a car, relies on his legs and his teammates to get around Arkadelphia.
"We've just kinda taken him in," Brown said. "He's just part of the team now."
Brown said Ford's excellence makes his teammates work harder than they've ever had to work.
"It stresses me out," Brown said, "because he kicks it so far, and we've got to cover it."
Ford's teammates have done their job in that department, holding opponents to a total of 17 return yards on Ford's 43 punt attempts, good for a net average of 39.7 yards, tops in the nation.
Ford said he first became interested in joining the Prokick school when he saw fellow Australian Sam Irwin-Hill punt for the University of Arkansas against Texas Tech in 2013.
"I said to myself, 'I can do that,' " Ford said
He contacted Chapman and Smith and went for a tryout.
"I always had a big leg growing up," said Ford, who had never kicked an American football before then.
His first punt in front of Smith and Chapman had a hang time of 5.0 seconds.
"You need to do this program," Ford said, recalling Chapman's response.
Ford did, and now he's got his mind on Saturday's game, and aspires to kick professionally when he's done at OBU.
Todd Knight said Ford is serious about learning the game.
"When he first got here, he said, 'Can you teach me more about football, Can you raise my football IQ," Knight said. "I said no. Right now, just punt, and we'll teach you as we go."
football playoffs
INDIANAPOLIS AT OUACHITA BAPTIST
WHEN Saturday, 1 p.m.
WHERE Cliff Harris Field, Arkadelphia
RECORDS Indianapolis 10-1; Ouachita Baptist 11-0
Sports on 11/23/2018