Washington Football: 5 overreactions from win over Colorado

3. Dante Pettis won’t break tie for career FBS punt return touchdowns

Dante Pettis drew into a tie atop the FBS career punt return touchdowns list last weekend with his third return score of the season against Fresno State. He will remain tied with Texas Tech’s Wes Welker and Oklahoma’s Antonio Perkins at eight career punt return touchdowns for the rest of the season, and will end his Washington career stuck on that number.

Against Colorado, the Buffaloes didn’t even consider punting to the dangerous return man. Teams are going to replicate that tactic for the rest of the year in Pac-12 play. When the alternative is losing a few punting yards booting the ball out of bounds or allowing a longer punt to be returned all the way to the house, those lost yards don’t seem so painful.

Pettis is going to continue to have impact on the offensive side of the ball. But when it comes to special teams, he has already plateaued in his college football career. Teams have wised up to the danger that Pettis poses on punts, and they are going to take a page out of the Buffaloes script from Week 4. As the opportunities to get punt return touchdowns dry up, Pettis will continue to share the FBS record rather than secure it outright.