The book on University of Hawaii punter Scott Harding these days, it seems, is a dog-eared "Roget’s Thesaurus."

As in how many terms can opposing coaches employ in their attempts to describe the hardships that Harding, a six-year Australian Rules pro turned punter, presents for their special teams units?

In a media conference call after playing UH, Washington coach Chris Petersen opted for "most difficult," "toughest" and "awkward" among others describing how Harding’s seven punts rendered the Huskies 107th in the country in punt returns.

Oregon State head coach Mike Riley, who gets a return match with Harding and UH Saturday at Aloha Stadium, has invoked several of them, as well as "challenging" before finally settling on and reemphasizing, "unique." 

As in "he (Harding) is the most unique punter that I’ve ever seen in my life," said the 61-year-old Riley, who has been a head coach for 21 seasons across college and the pros.

Punters, when they are noticed at all, are most notable for the rarities of their craft, a shanked or blocked punt, maybe a towering sky shot. Harding’s growing fame is for his virtuosity and consistent excellence.

"He’s tough, he can roll to his left, you saw it (and) he can roll to his right," Petersen said. "And, then, he kicks a knuckler to go with it, that’s hard. So, you don’t know if he’s gonna kick it at you, cross-field or rolling …"

That has made Harding perhaps the most well-scouted punter on the planet with teams devoting considerable time and energy in attempting to discern the method to the madness he spreads. "Last year the majority were to his right," Petersen said. "In the game he rolled to his left the majority of the times."

Inducing such frustration has become a badge of honor, one conferred regularly. 

"I mean, it is fun to know that they struggle so much to try and figure out our schemes," Harding said. "Pretty much after every game I have their coaches and players coming up to me and saying it is a nightmare to try and scheme us. You want them spending a lot of time on us. It is a credit to Coach (Chris Demarest’s) schemes."

Even when Harding doesn’t get inside an opponent’s 10-yard line with his punts, he usually succeeds in getting inside their helmets.

"Our guys were nervous about fielding his ball," Petersen said. "With a little bit of wind in that stadium, he kinda kicks a knuckleball, so we just didn’t have enough experience and confidence to field it. The one time we did, we put it on the ground."

For all that, Harding wades into his senior season yet to realize one of his ambitions, to take off with the ball and run. "One of these days the opening will be there to break it," Harding said.

The wonder weapon that Harding has become for UH is testament to both his athletic ability and Demarest’s fertile imagination. Harding wasn’t a punter until his sophomore year when Demarest caught sight of him kicking on the side with the regular punter, Alex Dunnachie. 

Later, Demarest upped the stakes, inquiring as to whether Harding could punt effectively with either foot.

"No worries," Harding said.

No worries unless you are on the receiving end of one of his punts. Then, there are plenty of words to describe the challenges. 

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.