STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Punter Jeremy Boone starts checking the weather forecast on Sundays, then keeps an eye on it all week as he gets ready for Penn State's next game.

Jeremy Boone leads the Big Ten in punting, averaging 46.5 yards per punt. (Photo: Associated Press)

Whether rain, high winds or a perfect sunny day, the conditions don't seem to matter — the senior enters Saturday's game at Michigan (3:30 p.m., ABC/ESPN) leading the Big Ten in punting, just like he's done the previous two seasons.

Boone's booming punts are a big plus on an otherwise so-so special teams unit for the Nittany Lions (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten). He's averaging a league-best 46.5 yards per punt, almost a yard farther than No. 2 Zoltan Mesko of Michigan. The stingy Penn State defense is the beneficiary with opponents being stuck with poor field position.

"We feed off that immensely," middle linebacker Josh Hull said. "Jeremy is a big-league punter."

With a big-league mentor, too.

Boone keeps in touch with Green Bay punter and former Penn State player Jeremy Kapinos, who was the punter during Boone's first two years in Happy Valley.

The two Jeremys talk often, and each week, Kapinos critiques Boone on the previous week's performance. Kapinos himself excelled while at Penn State.

Boone said Kapinos' best advice is to keep his steps short, and to keep his head down to focus on the ball before delivering the punt. Boone averaged 43 yards a punt each of the last two years to lead the league.

"By taking a look at my technique, just doing that week in and week out, I've been able to keep my focus on each game and on every play," the Mechnicsburg native said.

He stomached a hard lesson in the loss to Iowa, when the Hawkeyes' Adrian Clayborn blocked a punt at midfield and returned it for a momentum-swinging touchdown in a tight defensive slugfest.

Kapinos helped him figure out what went wrong.

"My steps got long and it's a game of inches," said Boone about the first blocked punt of his career. "I learned that the hard way by having one blocked."

Boone responded last week with one of the best days of his career, averaging nearly 50 yards a punt and twice pinning Illinois inside its own 5-yard line to help the Nittany Lions win the field position matchup — a stat close to the heart of any coach, but especially Penn State's Joe Paterno.

The performance garnered Boone his first Big Ten special teams player of the week honors.

"I think he's a heck of a competitor," Paterno said. "So it's good to see him have so much success. Obviously, it's been a big part of our ability to control the score, because he's given our defense a lot of good field position situations."

An ideal punt depends on field position, though Boone said position coach Larry Johnson urges him to shoot for punts for at least 40 yards with a hang time of at least 4.5 seconds which "gives us the best chance to have no return and have our cover team down the field."