2017 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 2017, Austin Seibert (79) led college football kickoff specialists in kickoff touchbacks, ahead of Greg Joseph (70) and Daniel Carlson (62). 188 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 2017 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	TB	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Austin Seibert	Oklahoma	79	102	61.9	77%	22	−3.0
2	Greg Joseph	Florida Atlantic	70	93	63.6	75%	23	+11.5
3	Daniel Carlson	Auburn	62	85	63.4	73%	20	+1.5
4	Rodrigo Blankenship	Georgia	60	82	64.1	73%	22	+12.9
5	Lucas Havrisik	Arizona	58	87	63.1	67%	29	−3.5
6	Jake Bailey	Stanford	53	75	64.4	71%	22	+15.1
7	Joey Slye	Virginia Tech	50	59	63.6	85%	9	+5.4
8	Zach Hintze	Wisconsin	49	70	64.2	70%	21	+12.5
9	Brandon Ruiz	Arizona State	49	72	63.3	68%	23	+7.8
10	Joel Velazquez	Boise State	47	75	64.2	63%	28	+8.1
11	Tyler Bass	Georgia Southern	44	52	64.0	85%	8	0.0
12	Mitch Wishnowsky	Utah	43	62	62.2	69%	19	+0.8
13	Parker White	South Carolina	42	58	64.6	72%	16	+6.3
14	JK Scott	Alabama	42	89	63.1	47%	47	+7.3
15	Tucker McCann	Missouri	41	77	63.0	53%	36	−0.1
16	Braxton Davis	Colorado State	41	78	63.4	53%	37	+9.5
17	Caleb Pratt	East Carolina	40	61	64.6	66%	21	+3.7
18	Davis Price	Colorado	40	64	63.8	63%	24	+8.0
19	Jason Sanders	New Mexico	39	48	63.8	81%	9	+5.6
20	Eddy Pineiro	Florida	39	50	64.0	78%	11	−11.3
21	Logan Cooke	Mississippi State	39	66	63.7	59%	27	+9.4
22	Logan Tyler	Florida State	39	66	64.1	59%	27	+4.4
23	Aidan Schneider	Oregon	39	80	64.0	49%	41	+5.2
24	Chris Francis	Iowa State	38	65	63.7	58%	25	+4.9
25	Michael Barden	Texas Tech	38	67	63.6	57%	29	−6.6
26	Dominik Eberle	Utah State	38	68	61.5	56%	30	+8.1
27	Trevor Moore	North Texas	38	77	61.8	49%	38	+2.2
28	Jameson Vest	Toledo	38	80	61.9	48%	42	+1.3
29	Jimmy Camacho	Fresno State	37	73	62.4	51%	36	+12.6
30	Tommy Openshaw	Vanderbilt	36	55	62.5	65%	19	−0.7
31	Michael Tarbutt	UConn	36	58	63.6	62%	22	+5.6
32	Canon Rooker	Middle Tennessee	36	61	63.7	59%	25	−7.7
33	Briggs Bourgeois	Southern Miss	35	69	61.5	51%	34	−12.9
34	JJ Molson	UCLA	34	79	63.4	43%	45	−0.1
35	Matt Ammendola	Oklahoma State	34	98	61.1	35%	64	+9.0
36	Emilio Nadelman	South Florida	33	79	62.4	42%	46	−5.6
37	Matthew McCrane	Kansas State	32	57	61.1	56%	25	+7.0
38	Joshua Rowland	Texas	32	62	64.2	52%	30	−1.4
39	Mike Weaver	Wake Forest	32	75	59.9	43%	43	−8.9
40	Cole Bunce	TCU	32	80	62.1	40%	44	+7.2
41	Chase McLaughlin	Illinois	31	43	62.4	72%	12	+2.7
42	Sean Young	Florida International	31	57	63.0	54%	26	+5.7
43	Miguel Recinos	Iowa	31	63	63.1	49%	32	+17.3
44	James Foug	Michigan	31	64	63.0	48%	33	+16.5
45	John Baron II	San Diego State	31	70	62.9	44%	39	+6.8
46	Michael Badgley	Miami	31	71	62.1	44%	40	−1.6
47	Tyler Davis	Penn State	31	81	62.1	38%	50	+3.2
48	Freeman Jones	North Carolina	30	59	63.5	51%	28	+13.2
49	Griffin Oakes	Indiana	30	60	61.9	50%	30	−1.7
50	Braden Mann	Texas A&M	30	61	62.1	49%	31	−0.6
51	Cameron Gamble	LSU	30	62	63.6	48%	32	+4.0
52	Cole Murphy	Syracuse	30	63	64.3	48%	33	+1.6
53	Erik Powell	Washington State	30	63	62.0	48%	33	−8.8
54	Redford Jones	Tulsa	30	67	62.6	45%	37	−0.8
55	Aaron Medley	Tennessee	29	41	64.2	71%	12	+1.3
56	Luke Strebel	Air Force	29	54	60.6	54%	25	+1.0
57	Austin MacGinnis	Kentucky	29	66	59.7	44%	36	−15.8
58	Jonathan Barnes	Louisiana Tech	29	71	60.9	41%	42	0.0
59	Ramiz Ahmed	Nevada	28	53	61.8	53%	25	+2.0
60	Alex Kessman	Pittsburgh	28	56	62.9	50%	28	−1.4
61	Nick Vogel	UAB	28	67	61.7	42%	39	−1.8
62	Jack Fox	Rice	27	39	63.1	69%	12	−0.2
63	Gabe Siemieniec	California	27	52	64.1	52%	25	+10.2
64	Evan Staley	West Virginia	27	74	58.8	36%	47	−8.9
65	Spencer Evans	Purdue	26	47	61.7	55%	21	−4.0
66	Cade Coffey	Idaho	26	51	60.5	51%	25	−1.5
67	Kaare Vedvik	Marshall	26	54	63.4	48%	28	+9.9
68	Drew Brown	Nebraska	25	56	62.1	45%	31	+1.1
69	Caden Novikoff	Houston	25	59	60.3	42%	34	−2.5
70	Matt Wylie	UL Monroe	25	69	62.4	36%	44	+1.4
71	Michael Rubino	App State	25	72	61.4	35%	47	+4.6
72	Luke Logan	Ole Miss	25	76	61.2	33%	51	−4.0
73	Alex Rinella	Western Kentucky	23	59	62.0	39%	36	+3.0
74	Matthew Wright	UCF	23	97	59.7	24%	73	+1.7
75	Maximilian Schulze-Geisthovel	Boston College	22	42	63.4	52%	20	+5.6
76	Cooper Rothe	Wyoming	22	53	61.4	42%	31	−4.5
77	Bratcher Underwood	Troy	22	57	59.7	39%	35	−8.6
78	Adam Mitcheson	Buffalo	22	61	60.4	36%	39	−4.3
79	Blanton Creque	Louisville	22	78	60.7	28%	55	+1.3
80	Brady Viles	UTEP	21	32	60.1	66%	11	−1.1
81	Sam Sloman	Miami (OH)	21	58	59.2	36%	37	−5.8
82	Connor Limpert	Arkansas	21	66	60.7	32%	45	+5.3
83	Michael Carrizosa	San José State	20	30	55.2	67%	9	−7.3
84	Brian Delaney	Virginia	20	54	63.2	37%	34	−2.7
85	Luke Otto	Northwestern	20	63	59.2	32%	43	−4.7
86	Sawyer Williams	Arkansas State	20	76	57.4	26%	53	−2.6
87	Zachary Block	Tulane	19	50	60.5	38%	31	+3.8
88	Brad Davis	Old Dominion	19	56	59.1	34%	37	−8.2
89	Nick Schrage	Army	19	60	60.7	32%	41	+4.6
90	Kaden Keon	Central Michigan	19	63	54.8	30%	44	−19.6
91	Kyle Bambard	NC State	19	69	58.2	28%	49	−9.2
92	Spencer Smith	Memphis	19	73	57.4	26%	52	−2.3
93	Stevie Artigue	Louisiana	18	38	62.1	47%	20	−4.1
94	Chase McGrath	USC	18	55	61.8	33%	37	+2.1
95	Aaron Boumerhi	Temple	18	64	60.5	28%	45	+5.1
96	Nick Fields	Bowling Green	18	64	55.7	28%	46	−9.3
97	Logan Laurent	Massachusetts	17	32	59.3	53%	14	−6.3
98	Liam Jones	Kansas	17	48	58.9	35%	31	−7.5
99	Ryan Santoso	Minnesota	17	52	61.6	33%	35	−2.9
100	Jack Driggers	Duke	17	57	62.3	30%	40	+11.2
101	Josh Williams	SMU	17	61	58.3	28%	42	−5.5
102	Parker Davidson	New Mexico State	16	32	63.4	50%	16	−0.2
103	Bennett Moehring	Navy	16	44	59.4	36%	28	+3.8
104	Daniel Portillo	UTSA	16	52	60.8	31%	36	+1.2
105	Jesse Kelly	Eastern Michigan	16	57	60.0	28%	41	−1.9
106	Tristan Vizcaino	Washington	16	70	58.8	23%	51	+6.0
107	Michael Farkas	Ohio	16	81	58.8	20%	65	+4.7
108	Jordan Choukair	Oregon State	15	48	62.3	31%	33	+5.9
109	Justin Yoon	Notre Dame	15	51	62.5	29%	36	−4.0
110	Daniel Gutierrez	UNLV	15	61	59.7	25%	46	−6.7
111	James Sherman	Texas State	14	41	61.2	34%	27	−3.6
112	Alex Spence	Clemson	14	52	61.7	27%	38	+0.8
113	Josh Orne	Northern Illinois	13	38	59.3	34%	25	−2.0
114	Justin Davidovicz	Rutgers	13	44	62.4	30%	31	+4.5
115	Ryan Jones	Cincinnati	13	50	58.6	26%	37	+1.7
116	Brett Scanlon	Michigan State	13	55	60.7	24%	42	+1.2
117	Derrick Mitchell	Western Michigan	13	60	60.3	22%	46	+3.2
118	Blake Haubeil	Ohio State	12	82	59.6	15%	70	+15.4
119	Dylan Brown	New Mexico State	11	36	58.4	31%	25	−11.4
120	Nick Gasser	Akron	11	58	58.0	19%	47	−11.5
121	Bryce Crawford	San José State	10	15	59.4	67%	5	−2.3
122	Mitch Lochbihler	Kansas State	10	19	62.3	53%	9	+1.7
123	Kevin Robledo	SMU	10	24	59.0	42%	14	−9.7
124	Nigel Macauley	Charlotte	10	27	62.9	37%	17	+4.6
125	Andrew Mikkelsen	BYU	10	31	62.6	32%	21	+7.6
126	Greg Huegel	Clemson	9	17	64.4	53%	8	+3.8
127	Shane Hynes	Kent State	9	36	61.1	25%	27	−3.5
128	Reid Budrovich	USC	8	16	63.9	50%	8	+0.3
129	Drew Galitz	Baylor	8	23	61.0	35%	15	−2.6
130	Shawn Davis	Georgia Tech	8	27	59.8	30%	19	−5.1
131	Samuel Vucelich	Toledo	7	18	62.1	39%	11	+2.4
132	Jonathan Doerer	Notre Dame	7	28	61.8	25%	21	−1.4
133	Evan Rabon	Coastal Carolina	7	33	58.8	21%	26	+2.6
134	Ryan Rimmler	Ball State	7	47	59.4	15%	40	−2.1
135	Evan Pantels	UNLV	6	9	65.9	67%	3	+1.8
136	Brian Johnson	Virginia Tech	6	12	63.2	50%	6	+1.9
137	Christian Hagan	Northern Illinois	6	28	61.8	21%	22	+2.7
138	Brandon Wright	Georgia State	5	6	64.5	83%	1	+1.2
139	P.J. Rosowski	Wisconsin	5	11	64.3	45%	6	+2.5
140	Corey Edwards	BYU	5	18	61.3	28%	13	+1.2
141	Corliss Waitman	South Alabama	5	24	60.5	21%	19	−4.3
142	Danny Sutton	Maryland	5	57	59.0	9%	52	0.0
143	Brent Cimaglia	Tennessee	4	10	63.6	40%	6	−0.1
144	Hayes Hicken	Utah	4	11	54.5	36%	7	−3.7
145	Matthew Philichi	Air Force	4	11	61.6	36%	7	+0.6
146	Nick Bartolotta	Missouri	4	12	54.8	33%	8	−1.5
147	Jay Sedwick	Baylor	4	26	59.6	15%	22	−4.7
148	Myles Homan	Purdue	3	4	63.3	75%	1	+0.2
149	Jaleel Berry	Boston College	3	6	62.7	50%	3	+1.5
150	Garrett Owens	Iowa State	3	7	62.1	43%	4	+0.7
151	Michael Brown	USC	3	9	64.7	33%	6	−1.6
152	Michael Schreiner	Massachusetts	3	36	54.8	8%	33	−20.9
153	Ryley Guay	Vanderbilt	2	2	65.0	100%	0	+0.2
154	Tucker Day	Mississippi State	2	2	65.0	100%	0	+0.2
155	Emmit Carpenter	Minnesota	2	4	57.3	50%	2	+0.2
156	Jake Julien	Eastern Michigan	2	4	61.5	50%	2	−1.8
157	Matt Hockett	Oklahoma State	2	5	52.4	40%	3	−0.6
158	Josh Grant	Western Michigan	2	6	60.8	33%	4	+1.1
159	Quinton Conaway	Nevada	2	6	59.0	33%	4	+1.3
160	Matthew Cluck	Texas Tech	2	7	63.9	29%	5	−1.8
161	Austin Parker	Duke	2	9	62.6	22%	7	+1.2
162	Matt Anderson	California	2	9	61.0	22%	7	+1.6
163	Christian Groomes	Clemson	2	10	61.1	20%	8	+0.7
164	Blake Patterson	TCU	2	12	59.6	17%	10	−2.6
165	Frankie Onate	South Alabama	2	20	57.9	10%	18	−6.0
166	Masamitsu Ishibashi	Coastal Carolina	2	24	57.3	8%	22	−9.7
167	Riley Patterson	Memphis	2	24	59.7	8%	22	−2.1
168	Ryan Meskell	Hawai'i	2	50	57.7	4%	48	+1.6
169	Chad Adams	Arizona State	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.7
170	Devon Spalding	Central Michigan	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
171	Hunter Duplessis	UTSA	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
172	Jackson Vansickle	Charlotte	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
173	Jake Koehnke	Air Force	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
174	Kyle Pfau	Oklahoma	1	1	50.0	100%	0	+0.1
175	Austin Johnson	Louisville	1	2	55.5	50%	1	−0.5
176	Blake Wilson	Army	1	2	62.5	50%	1	+0.4
177	Brandon Monroe	San José State	1	2	47.5	50%	1	−0.6
178	Jared Sackett	UTSA	1	3	55.7	33%	2	−2.9
179	Drew Costa	Clemson	1	4	63.3	25%	3	+0.8
180	Bennett Barton	Georgia Tech	1	5	55.4	20%	4	−0.3
181	Jason Evans	Western Michigan	1	5	59.0	20%	4	+0.1
182	Jose Borregales	Florida International	1	5	58.6	20%	4	+0.3
183	Connor Culp	LSU	1	6	63.3	17%	5	+2.1
184	Gavin Patterson	South Alabama	1	7	54.0	14%	5	+1.1
185	Kyle Corbett	Charlotte	1	8	61.8	13%	7	+1.7
186	Connor Martin	Baylor	1	9	60.9	11%	8	−8.1
187	Van Soderberg	Washington	1	12	61.9	8%	11	−2.6
188	Brenton King	Georgia Tech	1	24	59.3	4%	23	−7.0

All 2017 College kickoff specialist rankings

Kickoff Touchbacks in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

More 2017 College kickoff specialist leaderboards

Other 2017 College rankings

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