2012 College Kickoff Touchbacks Leaders

Kickoffs that reached the end zone and were kept there, giving the receiving team the ball at its own 25, 30 or 35, depending on the league and the rule that season. A touchback avoids a return but gives up field position.

More is better under this season's rules: a touchback ends the play with no return. Read with touchback percentage. In 2012, Quinn Sharp (59) led college football kickoff specialists in kickoff touchbacks, ahead of Taylor Bertolet (58) and Jeff Locke (57). 198 kickoff specialists qualify.

College rule from 2012 to 2017: a kickoff touchback started the receiving team at its 25, so a touchback was a good result for the kicking team. Kickoff Points Added accounts for the rule, so it is the fair way to compare kickoff specialists across leagues and seasons.

Final 2012 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	TB	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Quinn Sharp	Oklahoma State	59	82	63.0	72%	22	−3.9
2	Taylor Bertolet	Texas A&M	58	92	63.3	63%	34	+6.8
3	Jeff Locke	UCLA	57	77	63.9	74%	20	+6.5
4	Brett Maher	Nebraska	51	80	62.4	64%	26	+9.7
5	Chris Boswell	Rice	41	66	63.6	62%	24	+8.6
6	Cade Foster	Alabama	39	89	63.1	44%	50	+13.5
7	Dustin Hopkins	Florida State	38	88	63.0	43%	48	+17.4
8	Brandon McManus	Temple	37	49	64.4	76%	12	+5.5
9	Zach Hocker	Arkansas	36	54	64.1	67%	16	+5.5
10	Niklas Sade	NC State	35	55	64.0	64%	20	+10.3
11	Cole Way	Tulsa	35	73	61.7	48%	37	+13.7
12	Marvin Kloss	South Florida	33	51	63.6	65%	15	+1.9
13	Aaron Jones	Baylor	33	83	57.6	40%	46	−11.7
14	Spencer Benton	Clemson	32	64	63.2	50%	32	+10.6
15	John Bonano	Arizona	32	70	59.2	46%	35	−1.1
16	Alex Garoutte	Arizona State	32	74	61.0	43%	38	+8.3
17	Ty Long	UAB	31	60	63.3	52%	26	−5.5
18	Seamus McMorrow	San Diego State	31	65	63.0	48%	32	+2.1
19	Paulo Henriques	Memphis	29	45	63.4	64%	12	+1.5
20	Adam Yates	South Carolina	29	53	62.6	55%	19	−3.0
21	Pat O'Donnell	Cincinnati	29	59	63.6	49%	29	+8.6
22	Mitch Ewald	Indiana	29	64	61.6	45%	32	−6.0
23	Trevor Romaine	Oregon State	29	69	61.2	42%	36	+4.3
24	Anthony Cantele	Kansas State	29	85	61.1	34%	53	+4.8
25	Jack Griffin	Florida International	28	55	62.3	51%	23	+1.1
26	Freddy Cortez	Kent State	28	73	61.0	38%	43	+1.6
27	Sean Galvin	UCF	28	80	62.0	35%	48	+10.8
28	Cody Parkey	Auburn	27	41	64.2	66%	13	+5.4
29	Jordan Williamson	Stanford	27	66	63.7	41%	35	+13.5
30	Eric Osteen	Army	26	48	62.8	54%	20	+2.1
31	Kyle French	Wisconsin	25	44	63.5	57%	17	+6.0
32	Jaden Oberkrom	TCU	25	56	62.4	45%	31	+9.6
33	Caleb Sturgis	Florida	25	58	62.8	43%	30	+11.5
34	Ryan Norton	Syracuse	25	58	61.8	43%	33	+8.7
35	Sam Ficken	Penn State	25	62	61.8	40%	36	+1.9
36	Cairo Santos	Tulane	24	41	64.0	59%	13	−5.2
37	Briceton Cannada	Air Force	24	53	60.7	45%	28	−1.7
38	Mike Loftus	SMU	24	60	62.9	40%	34	+4.0
39	Richie Leone	Houston	24	67	61.7	36%	39	−2.9
40	Jaron Bentrude	Utah State	23	57	63.7	40%	34	+10.8
41	Edwin Arceo	Iowa State	23	59	63.2	39%	36	−1.0
42	Ross Martin	Duke	23	63	62.6	37%	37	+1.7
43	Nick Rose	Texas	23	67	60.6	34%	42	−5.7
44	Michael Palardy	Tennessee	23	70	61.3	33%	41	+3.0
45	Kevin Muma	Michigan State	22	48	63.0	46%	24	−0.1
46	Jamie Lindley	Georgia	22	49	62.9	45%	26	+4.3
47	Justin Martin	Wyoming	22	53	60.1	42%	29	−7.0
48	Kyle Brindza	Notre Dame	22	63	62.5	35%	41	+1.0
49	Warren Harvey	East Carolina	22	63	62.7	35%	39	+0.6
50	Jimmy Newman	Wake Forest	21	37	61.2	57%	14	+2.6
51	Zach Olen	North Texas	21	46	63.2	46%	22	−0.8
52	Justin Sorensen	BYU	21	48	63.6	44%	27	+7.2
53	Matt Wile	Michigan	21	62	60.3	34%	40	−4.8
54	Kramer Fyfe	Texas Tech	21	68	58.8	31%	46	−5.8
55	Taylor Zalewski	Illinois	20	40	60.4	50%	19	−5.0
56	Greg Rivara	New Mexico	20	48	63.3	42%	24	−2.1
57	Matt Weller	Ohio	20	58	61.4	34%	37	+4.7
58	Carey Spear	Vanderbilt	20	60	60.9	33%	39	+4.5
59	Jeremiah Detmer	Toledo	20	72	61.3	28%	48	+5.7
60	Jordan Wettstein	Minnesota	19	41	62.4	46%	22	+10.9
61	Mike Meyer	Iowa	19	47	62.7	40%	28	+4.2
62	Nick Marsh	Utah	19	50	62.6	38%	31	+14.6
63	Colin Ditsworth	Nevada	19	62	59.5	31%	42	−10.6
64	James Hairston	LSU	19	68	60.8	28%	47	+12.0
65	Harrison Waid	San José State	19	74	60.8	26%	47	−3.9
66	Scott Secor	Ball State	19	75	60.6	25%	52	+11.7
67	Matt Nelson	Louisiana Tech	19	94	58.3	20%	67	−2.4
68	Will Johnson	Texas State	18	32	64.3	56%	13	+2.2
69	Steven Valadez	UTEP	18	37	60.8	49%	18	+1.8
70	Bryson Rose	Ole Miss	18	41	61.6	44%	21	+0.9
71	Patrick O'Hara	Oklahoma	17	44	62.1	39%	26	+7.3
72	Tyler Wedel	Northern Illinois	17	63	58.0	27%	43	+2.3
73	Garrett Swanson	Fresno State	17	73	61.3	23%	52	+4.7
74	Craig McMahon	USC	16	34	60.8	47%	17	−0.8
75	Ian Frye	Virginia	16	40	60.3	40%	24	−8.8
76	Michael Bowlin	Washington State	16	43	62.8	37%	25	+6.9
77	Jared Roberts	Colorado State	16	45	60.2	36%	27	−5.5
78	Nate Freese	Boston College	16	45	60.2	36%	28	−0.5
79	David Scully	Georgia Tech	16	56	61.0	29%	39	+0.9
80	Bradley Pinion	Clemson	15	22	63.9	68%	7	−4.2
81	Zach Paul	Akron	15	28	61.0	54%	13	−2.0
82	Vincenzo D'Amato	California	15	51	60.7	29%	34	−2.4
83	Colin Amerau	Navy	15	52	61.1	29%	37	−1.9
84	Casey Barth	North Carolina	15	68	60.9	22%	51	+7.9
85	Chad Christen	UConn	14	39	62.5	36%	25	+4.3
86	Mason Krysinski	Miami (OH)	14	50	55.8	28%	33	−17.7
87	Corey Smith	West Virginia	13	47	60.6	28%	34	−6.0
88	Justin Manton	UL Monroe	13	51	58.4	25%	36	−7.4
89	Drew Basil	Ohio State	13	69	60.7	19%	55	+3.6
90	Kevin Harper	Pittsburgh	12	62	58.7	19%	47	−0.4
91	Steve Flaherty	Northwestern	12	65	59.4	18%	49	+2.0
92	Alejandro Maldonado	Oregon	12	91	59.5	13%	79	−7.0
93	Jed Solomon	Troy	11	39	57.1	28%	25	−12.8
94	Mitch Anderson	Florida Atlantic	11	39	61.7	28%	28	+5.9
95	Michel Chapuseaux	South Alabama	11	41	59.0	27%	26	−7.7
96	David Harman	Central Michigan	11	42	61.7	26%	25	+0.6
97	Patrick Clarke	Buffalo	11	44	51.8	25%	30	−19.9
98	Devon Bell	Mississippi State	11	55	60.6	20%	42	+10.7
99	Brock Baca	New Mexico State	10	20	61.2	50%	10	+1.6
100	Joe Mansour	Kentucky	10	22	59.4	45%	12	−5.4
101	Marshall Morgan	Georgia	10	26	62.8	38%	16	+4.5
102	Trey Farquhar	Idaho	10	36	60.9	28%	25	−4.6
103	Chase Lansford	UNLV	10	40	59.6	25%	24	−11.9
104	Luke Ferguson	Arkansas State	10	41	55.9	24%	26	−4.8
105	Travis Coons	Washington	10	52	58.4	19%	40	−7.5
106	Andrew Baggett	Missouri	9	27	60.3	33%	17	+1.6
107	Josh Ward	UTSA	9	27	57.6	33%	16	−1.4
108	Will Scott	Troy	9	27	60.6	33%	18	+4.3
109	Andre Heidari	USC	9	33	61.2	27%	24	+1.4
110	Tyler Hadden	Hawai'i	9	48	60.0	19%	38	+3.5
111	Thomas Meadows	Purdue	9	62	58.4	15%	50	−9.6
112	Jake Wieclaw	Miami	9	64	60.2	14%	53	+7.8
113	Nathan Noble	Ole Miss	8	17	63.6	47%	8	+2.9
114	Michael Hunnicutt	Oklahoma	8	29	62.0	28%	21	+6.2
115	Trevor Harman	Boise State	8	50	59.9	16%	42	+6.3
116	O'Hara, Patrick	Oklahoma	7	7	65.0	100%	0	+0.8
117	Brian Davis	Arkansas State	7	28	56.4	25%	20	+0.8
118	Hunter Stover	Louisiana	7	28	62.5	25%	21	+6.3
119	Brooks Abbott	Virginia Tech	7	33	61.6	21%	25	−3.6
120	Andrew Haldeman	Western Michigan	7	41	57.1	17%	31	−7.7
121	Carlos Lopez	Middle Tennessee	7	60	60.9	12%	49	−5.8
122	Brendon Levengood	Massachusetts	6	17	61.6	35%	11	+3.2
123	Michael Branthover	Virginia Tech	6	17	59.2	35%	9	+1.8
124	Zach Grossnickle	Colorado	6	18	57.2	33%	12	−6.1
125	Brett Baer	Louisiana	6	33	58.1	18%	26	+1.8
126	Anthony Farinella	Bowling Green	6	42	58.2	14%	35	−9.8
127	Justin Castor	Colorado	5	16	63.4	31%	10	−3.3
128	Corey Acosta	Southern Miss	5	36	53.9	14%	29	−15.8
129	Sharp, Quinn	Oklahoma State	4	4	65.0	100%	0	+0.5
130	Kyle Federico	Rutgers	4	12	59.0	33%	7	+0.2
131	Craig McIntosh	Kentucky	4	13	63.0	31%	8	+1.6
132	Maxwell Johnson	New Mexico State	4	13	63.2	31%	8	+1.1
133	Connor Gagnon	Central Michigan	4	15	58.7	27%	8	−1.6
134	Nick Prolago	Kansas	4	32	55.8	13%	26	−3.7
135	Brad Craddock	Maryland	4	46	59.5	9%	40	−4.7
136	Justin Haig	Marshall	4	65	56.6	6%	55	−15.1
137	Bobby Stonebraker	Oklahoma State	3	5	62.2	60%	2	+0.9
138	Drew Jarrett	Virginia	3	6	63.8	50%	3	+1.0
139	Brian Egan	Mississippi State	3	9	59.7	33%	6	+2.4
140	Sean Ianno	UTSA	3	15	59.6	20%	10	+0.6
141	Jason Dann	Texas State	3	17	61.5	18%	14	−2.4
142	Trey Barrow	Missouri	3	28	58.7	11%	24	−2.2
143	Tyler Bitancurt	West Virginia	3	31	57.7	10%	27	−7.2
144	Jesse Roy	Western Kentucky	3	46	57.6	7%	36	−4.0
145	Kody Fulkerson	Eastern Michigan	3	46	58.1	7%	35	−2.5
146	John Wallace	Louisville	3	48	60.1	6%	43	−8.9
147	Barth, Casey	North Carolina	2	2	65.0	100%	0	+0.3
148	Basil, Drew	Ohio State	2	2	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
149	Cantele, Anthony	Kansas State	2	2	65.0	100%	0	−0.1
150	Coleman Petersen	Utah	2	2	65.0	100%	0	+0.8
151	Jones, Aaron	Baylor	2	2	65.0	100%	0	+0.3
152	Martin, Ross	Duke	2	2	65.0	100%	0	0.0
153	Palardy, Michael	Tennessee	2	2	65.0	100%	0	−1.8
154	Brad Phillips	Florida	2	3	62.7	67%	1	−0.1
155	E.J. Scott	Virginia	2	3	64.7	67%	1	+0.9
156	Jordan Wetstein	Minnesota	2	4	56.3	50%	1	−2.0
157	Maurice Poyadue	Fresno State	2	4	64.3	50%	2	+1.4
158	Sean Kelley	Florida Atlantic	2	5	61.4	40%	3	−1.4
159	Wil Baumann	NC State	2	5	66.4	40%	3	−1.1
160	Will Oliver	Colorado	2	7	58.0	29%	4	−0.5
161	Parker Cundiff	UTSA	2	8	55.5	25%	6	−1.8
162	Jesse Boulnemour	Western Michigan	2	10	59.4	20%	7	−3.6
163	Hendrix Brakefield	Western Kentucky	2	11	57.1	18%	6	−4.3
164	Dan Goodale	Boise State	2	13	54.1	15%	11	−0.1
165	Kristian Stern	UTSA	2	14	60.2	14%	10	+2.3
166	Robert Stein	Akron	2	16	43.9	13%	14	−8.8
167	Trent Martin	Marshall	2	19	53.1	11%	14	−5.6
168	Anthony DiPaula	Rutgers	2	30	56.4	7%	24	−4.3
169	Abbott, Brooks	Virginia Tech	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
170	Baggett, Andrew	Missouri	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
171	Bell, Devon	Mississippi State	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
172	Bertolet, Taylor	Texas A&M	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
173	Bitancurt, Tyler	West Virginia	1	1	50.0	100%	0	+0.1
174	Bowlin, Michael	Washington State	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
175	Farinella, Anthony	Bowling Green	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
176	Fyfe, Kramer	Texas Tech	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
177	Krysinski, Mason	Miami (OH)	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
178	McMahon, Craig	USC	1	1	65.0	100%	0	−0.2
179	Nick DeLouisa	Rutgers	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
180	Prolago, Nick	Kansas	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
181	Romaine, Trevor	Oregon State	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
182	Stuart Williams	Wyoming	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
183	Zalewski, Taylor	Illinois	1	1	50.0	100%	0	+0.1
184	Chad McCloskey	Temple	1	2	61.5	50%	1	+0.1
185	Josh Thompson	Utah State	1	2	55.0	50%	1	−0.8
186	Kyle Clinton	Ohio State	1	2	63.5	50%	1	+0.5
187	Matt Green	Oklahoma State	1	2	65.0	50%	1	+0.8
188	Austin Lopez	San José State	1	3	61.3	33%	2	−0.5
189	Cody Journell	Virginia Tech	1	3	53.3	33%	2	−0.6
190	Ryan DeNucci	TCU	1	3	61.7	33%	2	+1.0
191	Sam Martin	Houston	1	4	56.0	25%	3	+0.7
192	Mathew Sims	Northern Illinois	1	5	61.0	20%	4	+0.9
193	Tony Miliano	Cincinnati	1	6	58.7	17%	5	−0.3
194	Riley Stephenson	BYU	1	11	59.6	9%	10	+2.3
195	Landon Ard	South Carolina	1	12	54.7	8%	10	−4.0
196	Chris Tanner	Georgia Tech	1	15	57.1	7%	13	−7.0
197	Joshua Appleby	Louisville	1	17	58.1	6%	16	−6.5
198	Thomas Moore	North Carolina	1	18	56.8	6%	15	+1.0

All 2012 College kickoff specialist rankings

Kickoff Touchbacks in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2011

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Other 2012 College rankings

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