Purdue football loses top kicker, Brownsburg alum to in-state rival

Purdue football's Spencer Porath made a sophomore-year breakthrough to become one of the Big Ten's most consistent placekickers.

The Brownsburg native's junior season will be spent helping Notre Dame chase another deep playoff run. Porath announced Tuesday he is transferring to the Irish, where the special teams coach is former Boilermaker special teams coach Marty Baigi.

Purdue is now scheduled to face Porath in each of the next two seasons, at home this fall and in South Bend in 2027.

Porath made 15 of 17 field goals last season, earning honorable mention All-Big Ten honors. He made all three of his tries in a loss at Notre Dame, including one from 48 yards. He made a then career-long of 50 at Michigan, then topped that by converting from 53 yards at Washington.

That performance set Porath up to be one of the Big Ten's best kickers and an important source of reliable scoring for Purdue. However, it always made sense some program at the top of the sport might try to bring him in. Even playoff teams struggled to find kickers with proven consistency and distance.

Purdue did retain Seth Turner, who handled kickoff duties last season. He competed with Porath in the preseason for the placekicker job. However, he has yet to attempt a field goal in three seasons with UConn and the Boilermakers.

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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Spencer Porath, Purdue's All-Big Ten kicker, transfers to Notre Dame