UCF sophomore punter Mitch McCarthy has been named to the Ray Guy Award Watch List, presented annually to the nation’s top punter in collegiate FBS, the Augusta Sports Council announced Tuesday.
The Augusta Sports Council created the Ray Guy Award in 2000 to honor Thomson, Georgia native and College and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, Ray Guy. Among the statistics used to identify the winner is net punting average, number of times punt is downed or kicked out of bounds inside the opponents 20-yard line, total yardage punted, average returned yardage and percentage of punts not returned with particular emphasis placed on net punting average. The winner must display team leadership, self-discipline and have a positive impact on the team's success.
McCarthy appeared in 12 games during his freshman season with the Knights, taking over as the starting punter prior to the Florida Atlantic game. He punted 38 times for 1,646 yards, averaging 43.3 yards per punt. He had 15 fair catches, 13 punts downed inside the 20-yard line and eight punts for more than 50 yards.
The Melbourne, Australia, native set the Military Bowl record with a career-best 60-yard punt.
The 50 candidates on the list incorporate a broad spectrum of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) punters. The 2023 watch list was compiled based on the 2022 Ray Guy Award Semifinalist List, the top ten NCAA Punters from 2022, the 2022 All-Conference teams, the 2022 All-American Teams, the 2023 pre-season All-Conference Teams and eligible punters on the 2022 watchlist.
The complete list of candidates will be released on November 6th. In mid-November, the Ray Guy Award committee will meet to select the ten semifinalists, who will be announced on November 10th. A national body of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) sports information directors, media representatives and previous Ray Guy Award winners will then vote for the top three finalists to be announced on November 22nd. After the finalists are named, the voting body will cast ballots again to select the nation’s top punter. The winner will be announced live during The Home Depot College Football Awards airing on ESPN in December 2023.