2021 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 2021, Jake Moody (79) led college football kickoff specialists in kickoff touchbacks, ahead of Jake Camarda (72) and Noah Rauschenberg (70). 259 kickoff specialists qualify.

College rule: a kickoff touchback, or a fair catch inside the 25, starts the receiving team at its 25, so a touchback is 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 2021 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	TB	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Jake Moody	Michigan	79	97	62.6	81%	15	+20.3
2	Jake Camarda	Georgia	72	88	63.6	82%	15	+18.4
3	Noah Rauschenberg	Baylor	70	79	64.5	89%	9	+10.0
4	Will Reichard	Alabama	68	93	62.0	73%	24	+12.9
5	Vito Calvaruso	Arkansas	64	74	64.8	86%	10	+11.5
6	Jonathan Kim	North Carolina	63	79	63.5	80%	16	+4.4
7	Noah Ruggles	Ohio State	62	92	60.0	67%	28	+19.3
8	Cory Munson	Western Kentucky	59	102	62.4	58%	43	+3.2
9	Jordan Stout	Penn State	56	59	64.6	95%	3	+10.2
10	Matt Araiza	San Diego State	56	67	65.1	84%	11	+11.6
11	Sean Koetting	Missouri	55	60	64.8	92%	4	+0.7
12	Caden Davis	Texas A&M	55	66	64.1	83%	11	+7.4
13	Julian Diaz	Nevada	54	80	64.3	68%	26	+13.1
14	Avery Atkins	LSU	52	61	64.7	85%	9	+9.1
15	Chance Poore	Kentucky	52	69	62.1	75%	15	+2.4
16	Alex Bales	Cincinnati	51	81	62.5	63%	29	+10.9
17	RJ Lopez	UCLA	51	81	62.9	63%	30	+6.0
18	Brendan Hall	SMU	51	82	63.1	62%	30	+11.3
19	Trenton Gill	NC State	50	70	64.0	71%	20	+7.7
20	Ben Sauls	Pittsburgh	50	97	63.2	52%	47	+16.2
21	B.T. Potter	Clemson	49	64	64.3	77%	15	+14.3
22	Cameron Dicker	Texas	49	69	63.1	71%	20	+3.0
23	Andrew Mevis	Iowa State	48	65	63.4	74%	17	+4.4
24	Everett Hayes	Oregon State	47	66	63.6	71%	17	+1.5
25	Gabe Brkic	Oklahoma	47	82	63.0	57%	35	+2.7
26	Bubba Baxa	Houston	46	77	62.5	60%	31	+2.8
27	Lucas Havrisik	Arizona	45	52	65.5	87%	7	+4.4
28	Dragan Kesich	Minnesota	45	65	63.8	69%	20	+12.4
29	Anders Carlson	Auburn	45	69	62.9	65%	22	+6.1
30	Andres Borregales	Miami	45	71	62.2	63%	26	+5.9
31	Ivan Mora	Wake Forest	45	85	61.6	53%	39	+2.4
32	Matt Coghlin	Michigan State	44	54	64.4	81%	10	+11.1
33	Jonathan Cruz	Charlotte	44	60	62.1	73%	16	−10.1
34	Logan Tyler	Arizona State	44	64	62.4	69%	19	−1.5
35	Caleb Shudak	Iowa	44	69	63.1	64%	25	+11.3
36	Gavin Baechle	UTEP	43	60	63.3	72%	17	−12.9
37	Reese Burkhardt	UAB	41	67	61.7	61%	26	−1.6
38	James McCourt	Illinois	40	47	64.6	85%	7	+10.2
39	Trey Wolff	Texas Tech	40	62	63.0	65%	22	+9.0
40	Brendan Franke	Nebraska	40	63	63.6	63%	23	+3.7
41	Camden Lewis	Oregon	39	77	62.9	51%	37	−0.2
42	Hunter Duplessis	UTSA	39	87	62.4	45%	48	−0.7
43	Brendan Farrell	Virginia	37	44	63.8	84%	7	+3.0
44	Tabor Allen	Kansas	37	51	62.3	73%	14	+10.7
45	Kyler Halvorsen	Hawai'i	37	59	63.9	63%	22	+6.6
46	Tanner Brown	Oklahoma State	37	71	63.5	52%	32	+7.9
47	Jake Oldroyd	BYU	36	56	61.8	64%	20	+3.4
48	Parker Grothaus	Florida State	36	60	63.4	60%	24	−3.5
49	Daniel Obarski	UCF	36	65	61.1	55%	29	−0.5
50	Joel Velazquez	Boise State	36	68	62.1	53%	32	+8.1
51	Thomas Cluckey	Toledo	36	77	62.1	47%	41	−0.2
52	Spencer Shrader	South Florida	35	57	62.3	61%	22	+2.3
53	Ty Zentner	Kansas State	35	61	63.3	57%	25	+1.5
54	Noah Grant	Memphis	35	68	60.3	51%	32	+0.3
55	Toby Wilson	Tennessee	35	71	60.8	49%	34	+13.4
56	Elliott Nimrod	Utah State	35	84	58.1	42%	49	−8.9
57	Alex McNulty	Buffalo	34	59	61.0	58%	25	−8.7
58	Joshua Karty	Stanford	33	43	62.7	77%	9	+4.9
59	Gavin Stewart	Georgia Tech	33	47	63.6	70%	14	+7.2
60	Griffin Kell	TCU	33	57	62.9	58%	24	−7.9
61	Chad Ryland	Eastern Michigan	33	60	60.9	55%	27	−15.9
62	Brock Travelstead	Louisville	33	69	62.3	48%	35	+1.2
63	Jake Bates	Texas State	32	54	62.9	59%	22	+4.3
64	Jordan Noyes	Utah	32	59	62.7	54%	27	+6.6
65	Jonathan Doerer	Notre Dame	31	80	62.0	39%	48	+8.8
66	Cole Becker	Colorado	30	49	63.9	61%	19	−3.0
67	Michael Hughes	App State	30	85	61.7	35%	55	+15.0
68	John Parker Romo	Virginia Tech	29	54	63.6	54%	25	+1.6
69	Ethan Albertson	New Mexico State	29	58	61.0	50%	27	+4.9
70	Briggs Bourgeois	Southern Miss	28	42	63.1	67%	13	+9.4
71	Jared Smolar	Indiana	28	43	64.1	65%	15	−1.0
72	John Richardson	Northern Illinois	28	67	57.1	42%	38	−4.9
73	Alex Barbir	Liberty	27	48	62.8	56%	21	+5.1
74	John Hoyland	Wyoming	27	57	59.6	47%	30	−15.8
75	Aaron Shahriari	Florida Atlantic	27	58	61.5	47%	31	+5.3
76	Scott Goodman	Mississippi State	26	44	63.1	59%	16	+6.9
77	Andrew Sanders	Marshall	26	56	61.8	46%	30	−25.8
78	Caden Costa	Ole Miss	25	72	61.3	35%	44	+6.1
79	Justin Duenkel	Virginia	24	35	63.0	69%	11	+6.7
80	Danny Longman	Boston College	24	56	59.6	43%	32	−4.9
81	Peyton Henry	Washington	23	30	64.8	77%	7	+4.9
82	Casey Glover	Tulane	23	40	62.5	57%	17	−1.1
83	Taren Schive	San José State	23	44	61.8	52%	21	+3.5
84	Mitch Jeter	South Carolina	23	46	61.6	50%	23	−1.6
85	Calum Sutherland	UL Monroe	23	51	61.8	45%	28	+4.1
86	Lucas Dunker Jr.	Washington State	23	58	62.2	40%	35	−3.7
87	Tristian Vandenberg	Ohio	22	45	62.7	49%	23	−13.4
88	Diego Guajardo	South Alabama	22	49	61.4	45%	26	−0.4
89	Graham Nicholson	Miami (OH)	22	54	62.1	41%	32	+2.0
90	Charlie Ham	Duke	22	55	59.7	40%	33	+2.0
91	Parker Lewis	USC	21	27	64.4	78%	6	+3.4
92	Jace Christmann	Florida	21	45	59.9	47%	23	+6.7
93	Jonathan Terry	Colorado State	21	60	61.8	35%	39	+0.9
94	Cole Talley	Army	21	61	58.9	34%	40	−16.8
95	Josh Rolston	Central Michigan	21	65	56.8	32%	44	−24.2
96	Owen Daffer	East Carolina	21	69	61.0	30%	48	+7.8
97	Alex Stadthaus	USC	20	31	63.9	65%	11	+5.4
98	George Steinkamp	New Mexico	20	31	63.1	65%	11	+1.5
99	Jack Van Dyke	Wisconsin	20	40	62.1	50%	20	+6.4
100	Brice Honaker	Air Force	20	45	62.1	44%	25	+2.4
101	Tristan Mattson	Arkansas State	20	50	61.8	40%	30	+0.5
102	Chris Van Eekeren	Purdue	19	32	61.4	59%	13	+0.1
103	CJ Kolodziey	Massachusetts	19	41	59.6	46%	22	−0.4
104	Dario Longhetto	California	19	53	60.8	36%	34	+3.8
105	Ethan Mooney	North Texas	19	59	60.7	32%	40	−29.4
106	Kieran Colahan	Coastal Carolina	18	65	59.9	28%	47	+6.5
107	Jason Stricker	Liberty	17	25	63.0	68%	8	+4.4
108	Jerry Fitschen	Akron	17	42	58.9	40%	25	−21.4
109	Mason Lawler	Bowling Green	17	58	58.1	29%	41	−6.4
110	Brooks Buce	Troy	16	31	61.6	52%	15	−3.0
111	Ben Freehill	Purdue	16	33	61.2	48%	17	+4.7
112	Cesar Silva	Fresno State	16	48	62.5	33%	32	−1.2
113	Lucas Matias	Florida International	14	27	61.8	52%	13	−11.4
114	Evan Warren	Navy	14	49	56.3	29%	34	−10.4
115	Joseph Petrino	Maryland	14	58	60.5	24%	44	−8.2
116	Nick Mihalic	Western Michigan	14	64	56.1	22%	50	−16.1
117	Pierson Cooke	Vanderbilt	13	31	63.1	42%	18	+2.6
118	Dominik Soos	Old Dominion	13	44	60.9	30%	31	−15.1
119	Brandon Ruiz	Mississippi State	12	17	62.6	71%	5	+1.2
120	Andre Szmyt	Syracuse	12	45	60.6	27%	33	+6.4
121	Nathanael Snyder	Louisiana	12	69	57.2	17%	57	+0.3
122	Valentino Ambrosio	Rutgers	11	29	60.4	38%	16	+3.1
123	Jacob Lewis	Ball State	11	37	60.3	30%	26	−5.2
124	Tyler Tipton	Tulsa	11	37	60.4	30%	26	−2.2
125	Rory Bell	Temple	11	44	59.4	25%	33	−10.3
126	Cesar Barajas	Louisiana Tech	11	48	61.3	23%	37	−9.5
127	Jadon Redding	Utah	10	19	63.6	53%	9	+5.3
128	Guy Fava	Rutgers	10	24	59.7	42%	14	+2.7
129	Evan Staley	West Virginia	10	47	58.5	21%	37	−19.1
130	Michael Hayes II	Georgia State	9	26	61.9	35%	17	+3.2
131	Joe McFadden	UConn	9	41	59.3	22%	32	−6.9
132	Andrew Glass	Kent State	9	68	46.4	13%	56	−36.4
133	S.Koetting	North Texas	8	9	65.8	89%	0	−2.4
134	Tim Horn	Washington	8	19	63.1	42%	11	+3.4
135	Charlie Kuhbander	Northwestern	8	36	59.4	22%	28	+4.7
136	Christian VanSickle	Rice	8	47	58.1	17%	39	−8.8
137	C.Frahm	Colorado State	7	7	65.0	100%	0	+1.1
138	Justen Smith	BYU	7	18	62.4	39%	11	−4.3
139	Chris Howard	Florida	7	24	63.4	29%	17	+2.8
140	Noel Ruiz	Georgia State	7	29	61.8	24%	22	−12.2
141	C.Munson	Florida International	6	6	65.0	100%	0	+2.1
142	P.Lewis	San José State	6	7	62.7	86%	0	−1.1
143	T.Mattson	Tulsa	6	7	64.1	86%	1	+2.3
144	Zach Schmit	Oklahoma	6	9	61.6	67%	3	−0.2
145	Alex Raynor	Georgia Southern	6	14	61.7	43%	8	+1.4
146	Tommy Heatherly	Florida International	6	15	59.3	40%	9	−0.8
147	C.Dicker	Rice	5	5	65.0	100%	0	−5.1
148	Noah Seiden	Tulane	5	9	63.1	56%	4	−4.2
149	Everett Ornstein	UTSA	5	10	63.7	50%	5	−2.0
150	Zack Long	Tulsa	5	14	56.3	36%	8	+3.3
151	Matthew Dapore	Air Force	5	16	62.3	31%	11	−1.7
152	Jonathan Hagee	Ball State	5	22	59.3	23%	17	−5.8
153	Abraham Montano	Fresno State	5	24	60.4	21%	19	−0.9
154	Collin Larsh	Wisconsin	5	25	57.4	20%	20	−1.5
155	J.Bates	South Alabama	4	4	61.3	100%	0	−0.1
156	Jack Martin	Alabama	4	5	64.0	80%	1	0.0
157	Liam Gray	Coastal Carolina	4	5	61.4	80%	1	+0.8
158	J.Fitschen	Bowling Green	4	6	63.0	67%	2	−3.5
159	Randy Bond	Texas A&M	4	8	63.8	50%	4	+1.3
160	Ryan O'Hara	UNLV	4	8	54.0	50%	4	+0.3
161	Stephen Rusnak	Michigan State	4	15	57.3	27%	10	+0.6
162	Nick Rice	Old Dominion	4	17	58.8	24%	13	+0.3
163	Britton Williams	Georgia Southern	4	25	61.2	16%	20	−0.2
164	Daniel Gutierrez	UNLV	4	35	52.9	11%	31	−9.5
165	J.McCourt	Penn State	3	3	65.0	100%	0	+1.8
166	J.Trestik	Air Force	3	3	65.0	100%	0	−0.1
167	Jared Zirkel	Georgia	3	3	65.0	100%	0	+0.5
168	Kelen Meyer	Nebraska	3	3	65.0	100%	0	−2.0
169	Matt Ruffolo	Kentucky	3	3	65.0	100%	0	+0.5
170	Ryan Sanborn	Stanford	3	3	65.0	100%	0	+0.5
171	E.Mooney	Missouri	3	4	63.8	75%	1	+0.6
172	Jack Podlesny	Georgia	3	4	63.3	75%	1	+1.5
173	Kolton McGhee	West Virginia	3	4	64.5	75%	1	+0.9
174	L.Matias	Western Kentucky	3	4	64.0	75%	1	+1.4
175	G.Nicholson	Central Michigan	3	5	63.8	60%	2	+2.1
176	Aaron Beckham	North Texas	3	6	63.5	50%	3	−5.4
177	D.Brown	Texas Tech	3	6	61.0	50%	3	+2.7
178	Joseph Bulovas	Vanderbilt	3	6	63.2	50%	3	−1.7
179	T.Keltner	Vanderbilt	3	6	64.3	50%	3	+2.9
180	S.Payne	Florida International	3	7	61.7	43%	4	−10.3
181	Dominic DiMaccio	Ohio State	3	8	58.1	38%	5	+0.6
182	Alex Herrera	South Carolina	3	9	59.0	33%	6	+0.7
183	Will Ferrin	Boise State	3	9	62.0	33%	6	+3.1
184	Avery Musick	Marshall	3	13	59.9	23%	10	−1.1
185	Scott Payne	Middle Tennessee	3	42	58.0	7%	39	−12.8
186	A.Schmoke	Eastern Michigan	2	3	54.7	67%	1	+2.0
187	Aidan Swanson	Clemson	2	3	64.3	67%	1	−3.1
188	C.Kintner	Coastal Carolina	2	3	65.0	67%	1	−2.2
189	Cade York	LSU	2	3	47.3	67%	1	−2.3
190	Evan McGuire	Auburn	2	3	64.3	67%	1	+1.3
191	J.Stout	Illinois	2	3	64.3	67%	0	−3.1
192	Jess Gmez	Eastern Michigan	2	3	64.0	67%	1	−6.7
193	K.Halvorsen	UNLV	2	3	65.0	67%	1	−2.0
194	Nick Lopez	California	2	3	61.0	67%	1	+1.0
195	I.Mora	Old Dominion	2	4	65.0	50%	2	−6.7
196	J.Rolston	Miami (OH)	2	4	64.0	50%	2	+0.3
197	James Williams	Syracuse	2	4	62.0	50%	2	+1.5
198	Kyle Ramsey	Houston	2	4	64.3	50%	2	+1.2
199	L.Matias	Middle Tennessee	2	4	64.3	50%	2	+1.0
200	Nick Sciba	Wake Forest	2	4	47.3	50%	2	−1.6
201	A.Mevis	UNLV	2	5	62.0	40%	3	−5.3
202	D.Soos	Middle Tennessee	2	5	63.2	40%	2	−0.8
203	J.Romo	Middle Tennessee	2	5	64.0	40%	1	−1.2
204	Tucker Day	Mississippi State	2	5	62.4	40%	3	−0.8
205	Brady Pohl	Oklahoma State	2	6	63.2	33%	4	+1.9
206	T.Brown	TCU	2	6	60.5	33%	3	−0.7
207	Paxton Brooks	Tennessee	2	8	63.9	25%	6	+3.8
208	Kyle Coale	Troy	2	22	51.0	9%	20	−1.8
209	Alan Kervin	UCF	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.2
210	B.Raborn	UL Monroe	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.5
211	Cameron Carson	Massachusetts	1	1	65.0	100%	0	−3.0
212	Cole Hussung	Michigan	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.2
213	G.Stewart	Northern Illinois	1	1	65.0	100%	0	−3.2
214	GT	Georgia Tech	1	1	65.0	100%	0	−0.2
215	GT	Northern Illinois	1	1	65.0	100%	0	−1.3
216	Isaiah Hankins	Baylor	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.2
217	Jake Chanove	Ball State	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.2
218	Jonathan Garibay	Texas Tech	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.2
219	Jonathan Weitz	Clemson	1	1	59.0	100%	0	+0.2
220	M.Coney	Miami (OH)	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.2
221	Matthew Shipley	Hawai'i	1	1	65.0	100%	0	−2.2
222	N.Null	Middle Tennessee	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.5
223	Sam Scarton	Pittsburgh	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.8
224	Tevye Schuettpelz-Rohl	Air Force	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.2
225	Trey Gronotte	Army	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.2
226	B.Pohl	TCU	1	2	64.0	50%	0	+0.6
227	Blake Grupe	Arkansas State	1	2	40.0	50%	1	−1.9
228	Cash Peterman	BYU	1	2	65.0	50%	1	+0.9
229	Cory Smigel	Akron	1	2	40.5	50%	1	−1.8
230	Jude Kelley	Georgia Tech	1	2	63.0	50%	1	+1.2
231	T.Mattson	Georgia State	1	2	64.0	50%	0	−2.2
232	T.Schive	USC	1	2	62.0	50%	1	+0.6
233	Taiten Winkel	Kansas State	1	2	62.5	50%	1	−1.2
234	Ben Falck	Hawai'i	1	3	64.0	33%	2	+0.7
235	Chase Gabriel	Florida International	1	3	64.3	33%	2	−5.5
236	Chris Freeman	Indiana	1	3	62.3	33%	2	−0.8
237	D.Guajardo	Texas State	1	3	63.0	33%	2	−4.3
238	D.Soos	Wake Forest	1	3	64.0	33%	2	−0.2
239	G.Kell	Oklahoma State	1	3	63.7	33%	1	−0.3
240	M.Hayes	Arkansas State	1	3	65.0	33%	2	+1.1
241	M.Hayes	Georgia Southern	1	3	62.7	33%	1	+1.2
242	M.Lawler	Akron	1	3	64.0	33%	2	−6.0
243	Trey Finison	Northwestern	1	3	59.0	33%	2	+1.1
244	B.Auburn	Rice	1	4	64.5	25%	2	+1.7
245	C.Williams	Hawai'i	1	4	50.5	25%	3	−0.9
246	Gavin Peddie	Western Michigan	1	4	54.0	25%	3	−1.1
247	Harrison Beattie	Maryland	1	4	62.0	25%	3	−1.4
248	Stephen Ruiz	Boston College	1	4	62.3	25%	3	+0.8
249	A.Szmyt	Ohio	1	5	62.8	20%	4	+0.1
250	Ben Fee	Navy	1	5	49.2	20%	4	−5.3
251	Ben Patton	Auburn	1	5	58.8	20%	4	−0.1
252	D.Sojat	Georgia Southern	1	5	55.8	20%	4	−1.5
253	D.Whelan	Tulsa	1	5	58.6	20%	4	−2.0
254	Marshall Meeder	Central Michigan	1	5	57.2	20%	4	−4.0
255	Mitchell Fineran	Purdue	1	5	59.6	20%	4	−1.9
256	Mac Brown	Ole Miss	1	6	61.0	17%	5	−0.1
257	Stephen Johnson	Ohio	1	6	53.2	17%	5	−3.5
258	Quinn Maretzki	Army	1	8	61.0	13%	7	−8.8
259	Dalton Witherspoon	Houston	1	9	41.4	11%	8	−4.9

All 2021 College kickoff specialist rankings

Kickoff Touchbacks in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

More 2021 College kickoff specialist leaderboards

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