McNamara tabbed semifinalist for Ray Guy Award

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LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech senior punter Austin McNamara was named Friday a semifinalist for the prestigious Ray Guy Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top collegiate punter.

McNamara is one of 10 punters nationally to be named a semifinalist and the lone one from the Big 12 Conference. He is joined on the semifinalist list by Alec Bevelhimer (Miami, Ohio), Alex Mastromanno (Florida State), Jack Bouwmeester (Utah), Jack Browning (San Diego State), James Burnip (Alabama), James Ferguson-Reynolds (Boise State), Matthew Hayball (Vanderbilt), Porter Wilson (Duke) and Tory Taylor (Iowa).

McNamara enters Saturday’s contest at Kansas as the only FBS punter to rank in the top 10 for punting average nationally, to have his team rank in the top 10 for net punting average and also rank in the top 10 in Pro Football Focus’ hang time average. He is currently averaging 47.7 yards per punt this season with 16 attempts going 50-plus yards and 15 being downed inside the 20-yard line.

An all-around punter who can punt for distance and accuracy, McNamara currently ranks sixth in the FBS and second in the Big 12 Conference with a 47.7 yards per punt average. As a team, Texas Tech currently ranks fifth in the FBS and leads the Big 12 with a 43.7 net punting average this season.

Pro Football Focus currently ranks McNamara third in the FBS among punters with an overall grade of 90.2 for the season, which is only 0.5 from first place. The website also has him third in the FBS for punt hang time among those with at least 10 attempts this season as McNamara is averaging 4.30 seconds per attempt. That average moves into second nationally among punters with at least 30 attempts on the year.

In its 23 years of existence, the Ray Guy Award has never presented its trophy to a winner who did not average at least 44.0 yards per punt that season. McNamara has compiled at least a 44.3 average in all five seasons as a Red Raider and is averaging 46.1 yards per attempt over his career, which is higher than seven previous winner’s single-season total. McNamara’s current 47.7 yards per punt average this season alone is higher than 12 previous winners.

McNamara is already a fixture as one of the top punters in history as he is the Texas Tech and Big 12 record holder for single-season punting average (48.2 in 2021) and longest punt (87). The Arizona native is on pace to snap the Big 12 career record of 45.9 yards per punt that was set by Oklahoma State’s Quinn Sharp from 2009-12 as well as the Texas Tech mark of 43.7 by Taylor Symmank (2012-15).

Additionally, McNamara’s current 46.09 career punting average ranks sixth all-time in FBS history among punters with 150-249 career attempts. His average would snap the FBS record for punters with at least 250 career attempts.

The Ray Guy Award will trim its semifinalists list to three finalists Nov. 28 following a vote of FBS sports information directors, media representatives and previous Ray Guy Award winners. The winner of the 2023 Ray Guy Award will be announced Dec. 8 live during The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN.

2023 RAY GUY AWARD SEMIFINALISTS

Alec Bevelhimer, Miami (Ohio)

Jack Bouwmeester, Utah

Jack Browning, San Diego State

James Burnip, Alabama

James Ferguson-Reynolds, Boise State

Matthew Hayball, Vanderbilt

Alex Mastromanno, Florida State

Austin McNamara, Texas Tech

Tory Taylor, Iowa

Porter Wilson, Duke

–TECH–