Sakoda Named to Ray Guy Pre-Season Watch List
June 13, 2008
AUGUSTA, Ga. -
Utah senior Louie Sakoda has been named to the pre-season watch list for the 2008 Ray Guy Award by the Greater Augusta Sports Council, which identifies the nation's top Football Bowl Subdivision punter.
Joining Sakoda on the Ray Guy Award watch list are Keenyn Crier (Arizona), Kevin Huber (Cincinnati), Chris Miller (Ball State) and A.J. Tapasso (Ohio State). All five are returning top 10 finalists from a year ago. Sakoda, the only dual punter/kicker on the list, also made the Ray Guy Award top 10 in 2006.
As a junior last year, Sakoda was named a first-team All-America punter by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and CBSSports.com, while earning second-team honors from SI.com.
The Ray Guy Award watch list will be expanded after the start of the season and will be trimmed to 10 semi-finalists in early November. The national voting body will then select three finalists. The winner will be announced live during the ESPNU-Home Depot College Football awards show on December 11, 2008.
2008 Ray Guy Award Pre-Season Watch List
- Louie Sakoda (Utah) - had a stellar 2007 season. He was named a 1st-team All-America punter by the FWAA and CBSSports.com, 2nd-team All-America punter by SI.com, and 2nd-team All-America punter and kicker by College Football News. He was the only starting dual punter/placekicker to rank in the top five of both disciplines. Louie had 3,231 total punting yards. He had a net punting average of 40.19 yards, had 28 of 73 punts downed inside the 20, and 65.75% of his punts could not be returned.
- Keenyn Crier (Arizona) - had a phenomenal freshman season. He was named 1st-team All-PAC-10, 1st-team freshman All-America (FWAA), and Sporting News 2nd-team. He had 2,577 total yards punting, His net punting average was 39.8 yards, and he dropped 22 of his 59 punts inside the 20. 66% of his punts were not returned.
- Kevin Huber (Cincinnati) - looks to be the man to beat in 2008. In addition to being a 2007 Ray Guy Award top-3 finalist, his other honors included Consensus All-America, Walter Camp All-America, Big East Special Teams Player of the Year, and 1st-team All-Big East. 20 of his 57 punts downed inside the 20, his net punting average was 44.23 yards per kick, and nearly 72% of his punts were not returned. Kevin's had 2,672 total punting yards.
- Chris Miller (Ball State) - was an American Football Coaches Association All-America 1st-team selection in 2007. He had a net punting average of 40.02%, and 23 punts were downed inside the 20. 54.1% of his punts were not returned. He punted for 2,772 total yards.
- A.J. Trapasso (Ohio State) - was recognized in 2007 as the Big Ten special-teams player of the week after the Buckeyes played Michigan State. 19 of his 50 punts were downed inside the 20, his net punting average was 38.46 yards, and 66% of his punts could not be returned. He finished the season with 2,049 punting yards.
The inaugural Ray Guy Award was presented in December 2000. The award is affiliated with the National College Football Awards Association. Its national voting body is made up of sports writers, college football coaches, sports information directors, and former Ray Guy Award winners. 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 important for the award winner to display team leadership, self-discipline, and to have a positive impact on the team's success.
