Colorado State University Athletics
Hunt selected to Ray Guy Award Watch List
7/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Augusta Sports Council named Colorado State punter Hayden Hunt to its 2015 Ray Guy Award Preseason Watch List on Thursday. The Ray Guy Award annually honors the nation’s top collegiate punter.
Thursday marks the first time Hunt has been named to the award’s watch list, however, as both a freshman and sophomore he was selected as a candidate later in the fall. In the past decade, CSU punters Jimmie Kaylor (2006, 07) and Pete Kontodiakos (2011, 12) have also been named to the watch list.
Hunt, a native of Long Beach, Calif., is one of 25 FBS punters selected, including one of eight underclassmen. He and UNLV’s Logan Yunker are the only two punters from the Mountain West.
As a sophomore in 2014, Hunt earned All-Mountain West honorable mention honors after punting 51 times for an average or 43.8 yards, which ranked 18th in the FBS. He placed 14 punts inside the 20-yard line and registered four touchbacks. Thirteen of his punts traveled longer than 50 yards, including a long of 63.
Following Thursday’s watch list announcement, a complete list of candidates will be released on Oct. 30, followed by 10 semifinalists on Nov. 13 and three finalists on Nov. 23. The voting body will then cast ballots again to select the nation’s top punter, which will be announced live during The Home Depot College Football Awards on Dec. 10.
The winner is determined by a national voting body of sports writers, college coaches, sports information directors and past Ray Guy Award winners. Among the statistics used to identify the winner is net punting average, number of times a punt is downed or kicked out of bounds inside an opponent’s 20-yard line, total yardage punted, average returned yardage and percentage of punts not returned. The winner must display team leadership, self-discipline and have a positive impact on the team’s success.
The Augusta Sports Council created the Ray Guy Award in 2000 to honor Georgia native and College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Ray Guy, arguably the greatest punter in football history.
Earlier this week, CSU’s Rashard Higgins was named to the Maxwell Award Watch List, while Kivon Cartwright and Steven Walker were listed on the John Mackey Award Watch List. CSU was one of two schools nationally to have multiple tight ends selected.
