Zach Johnson Named to 2007 Ray Guy Watch List

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The Greater Augusta (Ga.) Sports Council announced the watch list for the 2007 Ray Guy Award, which identifies the nation’s top collegiate punter, and Eastern Michigan University redshirt sophomore punter Zach Johnson (Springboro, Ohio-Springboro) is on the list. He was one of 10 semifinalists for the 2006 award, won by Daniel Sepulveda of Baylor. Johnson is one of 41 punters on this year’s watch list and he was also on the preseason list.

The Ray Guy Award is determined by a national selection committee made up of sports writers, college football coaches, sports information directors, past Ray Guy Award winners, and members designated by the Greater Augusta Sports Council. Among the statistics used to identify the Ray Guy Award winner are total yardage punted, number of times a punt is downed or kicked out of bounds inside the opponents 20-yard line, net average, average returned yardage, and percentage of punts not returned. It is also of importance for the award winner to display team leadership, self-discipline, and to have a positive impact on the team’s success.

The Ray Guy Award watch list will be narrowed to 10 semi-finalists, to be announced in early-November. The national voting body will then vote for the top three finalists who will be announced at the end of November. The award will be presented live on ESPN December 6, 2007 during the Home Depot College Football Awards Show.

Johnson has started the 2007 season right where he left off in 2006, averaging 43.7 yards per punt on 19 attempts. Seven of his punts have been inside the 20-yard line and he has had just seven punts returned for just 40 yards.

Johnson, who spent the entire 2006 season as the holder on field goal and PAT kick attempts, was the starting punter in the last 11 games of the season. Senior Andrew Wellock (Canton, Ohio-Green) was the returning field-goal kicker and punter when the 2006 season opened and he started the first game of the 2006 season at both positions.

Johnson was then called upon to take over the punting chores in game two and quickly established himself as one of the top punters in the NCAA Division I ranks. He finished the season with a 40.0 yard average, punting 65 times for 2,603 yards, including dropping 20 punts inside the 20-yard line. He was named an honorable mention Freshman All-American by The Sporting News.

2007 Ray Guy Award Watch List

Player School Year Last Year’s ranking
Zach Johnson Eastern Michigan Sophomore 2006 top-10 finalist
Jared Armstrong Purdue Senior
Johnny Ayers Boston College Senior
Britt Barefoot Southern Miss Junior
Justin Brantly Texas A & M Junior
Durant Brooks Georgia Tech Senior 2006-Top 3 finalist
Dave Brytus Pittsburgh Junior
Britton Colquitt Tennessee Junior
Jeremy Davis Arkansas Junior
Ken Debauche Wisconsin Senior
Matt DiLallo Colorado Sophomore
Matt Fodge Oklahoma State Junior
Michael Hughes San Siego State Senior
Leon Jackson III Utah State Senior
Jonathan Johnson Arizona State Senior
Jared Kaufman New Mexico State Senior
Jimmie Kaylor Colorado State Senior
Chris Keagle Louisiana Tech Junior
Brett Kern Toledo Senior
Jim Laney Western Michigan Senior
Andrew Larson California Senior
Zoltan Mesko Michigan Sophomore
Chris Miller Ball State Junior
Thomas Morstead SMU Junior
Brian Pacheco UNLV Senior
Aaron Perez UCLA Junior
Keegan Peterson Florida Atlantic Sophomore
Kyle Petersen UTEP Freshman
Waylon Prather San Jose State Senior
Geoff Price Notre Dame Senior 2006 top-10 finalist
Tim Reyer Kansas State Senior