2022 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 2022, Jake Moody (71) led college football kickoff specialists in kickoff touchbacks, ahead of Jack Podlesny (69) and B.T. Potter (61). 256 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 2022 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	TB	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Jake Moody	Michigan	71	94	63.0	76%	21	+19.4
2	Jack Podlesny	Georgia	69	91	63.2	76%	19	+13.5
3	B.T. Potter	Clemson	61	77	63.6	79%	13	+11.9
4	Dragan Kesich	Minnesota	58	66	64.8	88%	8	+4.0
5	Jake Bates	Arkansas	58	68	64.6	85%	10	+10.1
6	Noah Rauschenberg	Baylor	58	74	64.2	78%	16	+4.3
7	RJ Lopez	UCLA	57	85	64.2	67%	28	+10.1
8	Ben Sauls	Pittsburgh	55	72	62.9	76%	17	+11.7
9	Zach Schmit	Oklahoma	55	74	63.8	74%	19	−37.9
10	Jayden Fielding	Ohio State	53	97	61.3	55%	40	+7.8
11	Will Reichard	Alabama	52	86	61.7	60%	28	+18.2
12	Andrew Boyle	Oregon	50	71	63.0	70%	18	+7.5
13	Casey Glover	Tulane	48	74	62.1	65%	26	+13.3
14	Ty Zentner	Kansas State	48	80	63.0	60%	31	+7.0
15	Caden Davis	Texas A&M	47	56	63.9	84%	8	+6.3
16	Spencer Shrader	South Florida	47	57	63.9	82%	10	+0.7
17	Mitch Jeter	South Carolina	47	69	62.9	68%	21	+12.5
18	Ryan Fitzgerald	Florida State	46	69	64.3	67%	23	+11.6
19	Tyler Loop	Arizona	45	71	62.0	63%	26	−18.2
20	Ryker Casey	UCF	45	72	60.8	63%	27	−5.8
21	Brendan Hall	SMU	45	81	60.7	56%	35	−9.1
22	Alex Stadthaus	USC	45	92	62.4	49%	46	+11.9
23	Sean Koetting	Missouri	44	55	61.8	80%	10	+6.2
24	Chance Poore	Kentucky	44	60	64.3	73%	16	−1.7
25	Ethan Mooney	North Texas	44	61	63.4	72%	17	+2.9
26	Gavin Baechle	UTEP	44	67	63.6	66%	23	−29.6
27	Tabor Allen	Kansas	44	77	61.3	57%	33	−22.2
28	Paxton Brooks	Tennessee	44	88	58.7	50%	38	+14.4
29	Luke Laminack	TCU	43	95	61.2	45%	49	−3.6
30	Michael Hayes II	Georgia State	42	59	64.1	71%	17	−1.7
31	Ryan Coe	Cincinnati	42	70	63.6	60%	28	+5.6
32	Trey Wolff	Texas Tech	42	75	61.5	56%	33	−6.8
33	Chad Ryland	Maryland	41	61	63.0	67%	20	+1.0
34	Jason Stricker	Liberty	41	63	62.9	65%	22	+3.2
35	Brock Travelstead	Louisville	41	65	61.4	63%	24	+7.4
36	Zac Yoakam	Notre Dame	41	65	61.3	63%	20	+9.8
37	Joshua Karty	Stanford	40	55	63.3	73%	14	+11.0
38	Jonathan Cruz	Ole Miss	40	73	60.4	55%	29	−6.0
39	Collin Smith	NC State	39	65	63.0	60%	24	+17.2
40	Brendan Franke	Nebraska	38	56	62.0	68%	18	+8.5
41	Andres Borregales	Miami	38	58	60.5	66%	19	+4.9
42	Connor Madden	James Madison	38	63	62.8	60%	25	+2.9
43	Kyler Halvorsen	Hawai'i	37	52	63.3	71%	15	+6.5
44	Bubba Baxa	Houston	37	64	62.4	58%	27	−8.3
45	Michael Hughes	App State	36	71	60.7	51%	35	−2.0
46	Caleb Griffin	Illinois	35	48	61.9	73%	13	+6.6
47	Brady Denaburg	Syracuse	35	53	64.0	66%	18	+4.6
48	Colton Theaker	Washington State	35	57	63.5	61%	22	+4.4
49	Briggs Bourgeois	Southern Miss	35	59	63.2	59%	24	+2.9
50	Ben Raybon	Mississippi State	34	63	61.6	54%	29	+4.5
51	Buck Buchanan	Louisiana Tech	34	63	62.5	54%	29	+1.0
52	Kyle Lowe	Virginia Tech	33	46	62.9	72%	12	−4.2
53	Reese Burkhardt	UAB	33	66	60.5	50%	33	+0.4
54	Nathan Dibert	LSU	32	50	63.6	64%	18	+0.9
55	Chris Van Eekeren	Purdue	32	55	62.0	58%	23	+2.0
56	Alex McNulty	Buffalo	32	57	59.6	56%	25	−8.5
57	Cole Becker	Colorado	31	43	63.3	72%	12	−9.3
58	Jake Oldroyd	BYU	31	57	61.5	54%	25	−5.1
59	Cory Munson	Western Kentucky	31	78	61.3	40%	47	+8.6
60	Henry Katleman	Colorado State	30	38	63.6	79%	8	+2.6
61	Tim Horn	Rice	30	59	62.8	51%	29	−1.7
62	Jared Sackett	UTSA	30	62	60.8	48%	32	−9.2
63	Tyler Tipton	Tulsa	30	68	59.4	44%	37	+0.1
64	Drew Stevens	Iowa	29	52	62.3	56%	23	+8.4
65	Cole Talley	Army	29	57	61.7	51%	28	+13.4
66	Jack Browning	San Diego State	28	50	63.7	56%	22	+8.0
67	Jacob Meeks	South Alabama	28	72	60.3	39%	44	+4.3
68	Will Stone	Texas	28	75	61.3	37%	43	+17.4
69	Jonathan Kim	North Carolina	27	32	64.1	84%	4	−2.9
70	Jake Pinegar	Penn State	27	40	62.9	68%	13	+4.1
71	Charlie Ham	Duke	27	42	63.3	64%	15	−1.3
72	Aidan Laros	Charlotte	27	47	63.4	57%	20	−0.1
73	Noah Burnette	North Carolina	27	52	63.7	52%	25	+5.2
74	Joseph Bulovas	Vanderbilt	27	55	62.6	49%	28	+5.5
75	John Hoyland	Wyoming	27	56	62.9	48%	29	−0.9
76	Tristan Mattson	Arkansas State	27	62	60.9	44%	35	+14.2
77	Tristian Vandenberg	Ohio	27	72	60.1	38%	43	+11.6
78	Adam Mihalek	Florida	26	41	63.1	63%	14	+2.4
79	Brendan Farrell	Virginia	25	37	64.5	68%	12	+2.6
80	Brady Pohl	Eastern Michigan	25	50	59.5	50%	25	−7.6
81	Parker Grothaus	West Virginia	25	65	60.2	38%	40	−4.9
82	Lucas Matias	Florida International	24	42	61.9	57%	18	−4.3
83	Chris Freeman	Indiana	24	44	63.3	55%	20	+2.4
84	Eddie Czaplicki	Arizona State	24	44	63.0	55%	20	+10.2
85	George Steinkamp	New Mexico	24	48	62.1	50%	24	−1.8
86	Grady Gross	Washington	24	82	60.6	29%	56	+8.0
87	Atticus Sappington	Oregon State	23	42	62.7	55%	19	+6.5
88	Matthew Killam	Nevada	23	43	63.0	53%	20	+10.8
89	Carter Davis	Florida Atlantic	23	49	61.1	47%	26	−7.7
90	Dylan Lynch	Fresno State	23	49	61.7	47%	26	−5.7
91	Dominik Soos	Old Dominion	23	50	61.0	46%	27	+2.3
92	Gavin Stewart	Georgia Tech	22	40	64.1	55%	18	−0.9
93	Calum Sutherland	UL Monroe	22	47	61.5	47%	25	−12.9
94	Michael Lantz	Georgia Southern	22	65	61.9	34%	43	+4.2
95	Zach Long	Troy	21	35	61.7	60%	14	+1.8
96	Michael Luckhurst	California	21	43	61.9	49%	19	+5.1
97	Josh Rolston	Central Michigan	21	48	59.9	44%	27	−1.3
98	Thomas Leo	Louisiana	21	64	61.6	33%	43	−2.8
99	Elliott Nimrod	Utah State	20	53	60.3	38%	32	−0.1
100	Trey Smack	Florida	19	30	62.4	63%	9	+6.6
101	Graham Nicholson	Miami (OH)	18	35	62.5	51%	17	−13.9
102	Rece Verhoff	Marshall	18	39	59.1	46%	21	+5.7
103	Gavin Lahm	Wisconsin	18	42	61.0	43%	24	+11.1
104	Matthew Dapore	Air Force	18	48	60.8	38%	30	+1.6
105	Brooks Buce	Troy	17	26	63.4	65%	9	+4.4
106	Jonah Dalmas	Boise State	17	35	60.9	49%	18	−0.8
107	Jude McAtamney	Rutgers	17	47	59.4	36%	29	−12.1
108	Noe Ruelas	UConn	17	47	60.8	36%	30	−6.1
109	Andrew Glass	Kent State	17	58	54.6	29%	41	−30.4
110	John Richardson	Northern Illinois	17	62	54.0	27%	45	−2.9
111	Tanner Gillis	Memphis	16	35	61.8	46%	19	+0.4
112	Liam Gray	Coastal Carolina	16	40	59.1	40%	24	+1.8
113	Mason Shipley	Texas State	16	49	57.6	33%	33	−4.6
114	CJ Kolodziey	Massachusetts	15	40	59.8	38%	25	−2.0
115	Noah Grant	Memphis	15	40	61.8	38%	25	+4.0
116	Thomas Cluckey	Toledo	15	67	60.0	22%	52	−11.9
117	Jack Van Dyke	Wisconsin	14	18	62.1	78%	3	+4.1
118	Anders Carlson	Auburn	14	43	59.4	33%	27	−7.3
119	Mason Lawler	Bowling Green	14	50	58.1	28%	36	−8.6
120	Ivan Mora	Wake Forest	14	65	57.6	22%	47	+0.7
121	Liam Connor	Boston College	13	24	60.3	54%	10	−1.2
122	Ethan Albertson	New Mexico State	13	25	64.5	52%	12	−8.1
123	Everett Hayes	Oregon State	13	28	62.4	46%	14	+4.4
124	Will Ferrin	Boise State	13	28	61.3	46%	14	+6.1
125	Logan Ward	Oklahoma State	13	35	62.4	37%	22	+7.8
126	Jordan Noyes	Utah	13	40	61.1	33%	26	+5.1
127	Jack Stone	Michigan State	13	52	59.5	25%	37	+0.1
128	Scott Payne	Middle Tennessee	13	70	59.9	19%	57	−12.8
129	Damian Ramos	LSU	12	26	62.6	46%	14	+0.1
130	Abraham Montano	Fresno State	12	28	62.5	43%	16	+10.1
131	Evan Warren	Navy	12	36	57.4	33%	21	+0.6
132	Nick Mihalic	Western Michigan	11	35	57.6	31%	24	−23.5
133	Daniel Gutierrez	UNLV	11	39	52.6	28%	28	−18.7
134	Owen Daffer	East Carolina	11	45	60.4	24%	34	−2.2
135	Ben VonGunten	Ball State	11	59	59.2	19%	46	+5.3
136	Tanner Brown	Oklahoma State	10	21	63.8	48%	11	+1.6
137	Adam Stage	Northwestern	10	39	58.4	26%	27	+13.3
138	Taren Schive	San José State	10	57	51.1	18%	47	−15.0
139	Gabriel Nwosu	Penn State	9	18	62.4	50%	9	+3.8
140	Jadon Redding	Utah	9	33	60.7	27%	23	−2.4
141	Tommy Doman	Michigan	8	8	64.6	100%	0	+1.4
142	Charles Campbell	Indiana	8	12	61.3	67%	4	+2.1
143	Dario Longhetto	California	8	13	62.4	62%	5	0.0
144	Alex Hale	Oklahoma State	8	19	63.4	42%	11	+3.9
145	C.Ryland	Charlotte	7	9	64.3	78%	2	+0.6
146	Camden Lewis	Oregon	7	12	62.5	58%	5	−7.7
147	Keegan Shackford	Iowa State	7	30	61.2	23%	23	+4.7
148	Rory Bell	Temple	7	51	56.5	14%	43	−12.1
149	B.Denaburg	Purdue	6	6	60.0	100%	0	−0.1
150	Noah Gettman	Akron	6	16	59.1	38%	10	−0.8
151	Palmer Domschke	Western Michigan	6	17	58.8	35%	11	+3.2
152	Kade Hensley	Coastal Carolina	6	22	61.2	27%	16	+1.2
153	Jace Gilbert	Iowa State	6	25	61.6	24%	19	+0.6
154	Robert Gunn III	Clemson	5	5	65.0	100%	0	+0.9
155	S.Shrader	East Carolina	5	5	65.0	100%	0	−3.9
156	Mac Chiumento	Florida State	5	6	63.0	83%	1	+1.1
157	E.Mooney	Western Kentucky	5	7	62.7	71%	2	−0.7
158	J.Pinegar	Rutgers	5	7	62.7	71%	2	+2.0
159	M.Hayes	Georgia Southern	5	8	63.5	63%	3	−1.4
160	Toby Wilson	Tennessee	5	8	63.8	63%	3	−1.1
161	Massimo Biscardi	Mississippi State	5	9	63.6	56%	4	+1.7
162	B.Zepeda	Missouri	4	4	65.0	100%	0	+1.0
163	A.McNulty	Toledo	4	5	64.4	80%	1	−4.2
164	Blake Grupe	Notre Dame	4	5	64.8	80%	1	0.0
165	C.Davis	UAB	4	5	64.2	80%	0	−0.6
166	Jared Zirkel	Georgia	4	5	60.0	80%	0	+0.9
167	C.Van Eekeren	Syracuse	4	6	63.7	67%	1	+2.2
168	Luke Wieland	Air Force	4	10	60.9	40%	6	+1.0
169	Todd Pelino	Duke	4	17	59.1	24%	12	+2.9
170	Brett Money	New Mexico State	4	18	57.0	22%	14	+1.8
171	Niko Paxos	Akron	4	23	61.0	17%	19	−22.1
172	E.Warren	East Carolina	3	4	57.0	75%	1	−2.8
173	J.Sackett	Texas	3	4	63.3	75%	1	+1.2
174	M.Dapore	Colorado	3	4	65.0	75%	1	−4.1
175	M.Lantz	Georgia State	3	4	61.3	75%	0	+1.2
176	R.Burkhardt	Florida Atlantic	3	4	65.0	75%	1	+3.4
177	Carson Zilmer	New Mexico State	3	5	62.0	60%	2	+0.8
178	Chris Cayton	North Texas	3	5	63.4	60%	2	+1.6
179	J.Dalmas	BYU	3	5	59.4	60%	2	−0.5
180	M.Killam	Texas State	3	5	64.8	60%	1	−5.7
181	R.Verhoff	Bowling Green	3	5	64.2	60%	1	−0.3
182	Ryan O'Hara	UNLV	3	7	60.1	43%	4	−1.2
183	Laith Marjan	East Carolina	3	8	64.1	38%	5	−1.8
184	O.Daffer	South Florida	3	8	62.9	38%	4	−2.9
185	C.Sessums	New Mexico State	2	2	65.0	100%	0	+1.2
186	Jace Feely	Arizona State	2	2	57.5	100%	0	+0.4
187	Lucas Dunker Jr.	Tulane	2	2	65.0	100%	0	0.0
188	S.Sahaydak	Rutgers	2	2	65.0	100%	0	+0.9
189	C.Theaker	Wisconsin	2	3	64.3	67%	0	+0.8
190	I.Hershey	UNLV	2	3	61.3	67%	1	−1.6
191	J.Browning	Boise State	2	3	64.7	67%	1	−1.8
192	M.Shipley	Nevada	2	3	63.3	67%	1	+0.8
193	Quinn Maretzki	Army	2	3	62.3	67%	1	−0.3
194	R.Verhoff	Coastal Carolina	2	3	64.3	67%	1	−0.3
195	A.McNulty	Akron	2	4	60.0	50%	2	−0.1
196	Brayden Narveson	Western Kentucky	2	4	65.0	50%	2	+0.5
197	C.Munson	North Texas	2	4	64.8	50%	2	+2.2
198	Jude Kelley	Georgia Tech	2	4	64.3	50%	2	+0.6
199	Morgan Suarez	Florida Atlantic	2	4	63.3	50%	2	−5.2
200	O.Daffer	Navy	2	4	64.5	50%	2	+0.8
201	W.Ferrin	San Diego State	2	4	58.0	50%	2	−2.9
202	Jack Martin	Alabama	2	5	56.8	40%	3	+0.4
203	L.Gray	Marshall	2	5	63.0	40%	3	−1.1
204	W.Stone	UTSA	2	5	61.6	40%	2	+0.6
205	Luke Pawlak	Toledo	2	6	62.2	33%	4	−3.9
206	Will Hryszko	Kent State	2	6	58.3	33%	4	−6.8
207	B.Pohl	Arizona State	2	7	58.1	29%	5	+1.0
208	R.Garcia	North Texas	2	7	58.0	29%	5	+2.3
209	Peyton Henry	Washington	2	8	61.1	25%	6	−0.8
210	M.Bernard	Ohio	2	9	54.4	22%	6	−0.5
211	Ben Freehill	Purdue	2	11	61.3	18%	8	+1.1
212	Zach Murphy	Wake Forest	2	11	53.7	18%	7	−0.8
213	Sander Sahaydak	Penn State	2	12	61.6	17%	10	−0.1
214	Evan McGuire	Auburn	2	15	59.2	13%	13	+0.2
215	Danny Longman	Boston College	2	17	60.4	12%	15	−3.6
216	Alejandro Quintero	Indiana	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.2
217	C.Becker	Air Force	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.5
218	Caleb Phillips	Louisiana Tech	1	1	65.0	100%	0	−2.9
219	Dean Janikowski	Washington State	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.2
220	Diego Guajardo	South Alabama	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.2
221	Harrison Mevis	Missouri	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.2
222	Joseph Firebaugh	UCLA	1	1	65.0	100%	0	−1.1
223	Josh Turbyville	Tennessee	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.2
224	Mark Ramos	UTEP	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.2
225	Matt Quinn	UAB	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.2
226	T.Horn	Florida Atlantic	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.2
227	A.Laros	Maryland	1	2	64.0	50%	1	+0.4
228	C.Davis	Rice	1	2	61.0	50%	0	−2.4
229	Collin Rogers	SMU	1	2	35.5	50%	1	−0.5
230	J.Van Dyke	Washington State	1	2	65.0	50%	1	−0.8
231	John Olson	Air Force	1	2	57.0	50%	1	−0.6
232	L.Connor	UConn	1	2	64.0	50%	1	+0.8
233	Christian Schanefelt	Ole Miss	1	3	61.0	33%	2	−3.7
234	E.Czaplicki	Eastern Michigan	1	3	38.3	33%	1	+1.0
235	E.Nimrod	UNLV	1	3	64.3	33%	2	−0.4
236	G.Nicholson	Ball State	1	3	63.0	33%	0	−3.5
237	Trey Gronotte	Army	1	3	65.0	33%	2	−1.2
238	A.Glass	Miami (OH)	1	4	60.0	25%	2	+2.7
239	Danny King	West Virginia	1	4	52.5	25%	3	−0.6
240	J.Oldroyd	Boise State	1	4	61.0	25%	2	+0.6
241	J.Rolston	Akron	1	4	57.3	25%	3	+0.3
242	Jarrett Reeser	San Diego State	1	4	60.3	25%	3	+0.6
243	Camden Wise	James Madison	1	5	50.0	20%	4	+0.4
244	D.Gutierrez	Utah State	1	5	51.6	20%	4	−9.3
245	M.Lawler	Marshall	1	5	61.2	20%	4	−0.6
246	T.Cluckey	Buffalo	1	5	60.6	20%	4	−5.6
247	B.Pohl	Akron	1	6	60.0	17%	5	−3.4
248	C.Glover	Massachusetts	1	6	61.3	17%	5	−11.1
249	G.Nicholson	Kent State	1	6	63.8	17%	4	−1.1
250	Henry Beckett	Miami (OH)	1	6	63.5	17%	5	−16.5
251	Ben Norton	Utah	1	7	62.4	14%	6	+0.8
252	Cash Peterman	BYU	1	7	58.3	14%	6	−0.2
253	Justin Ritter	James Madison	1	7	60.0	14%	6	+1.2
254	James Williams	Syracuse	1	8	63.0	13%	7	+2.9
255	Kyle Ramsey	Houston	1	8	51.3	13%	6	−7.0
256	Tate Sandell	UTSA	1	20	49.8	5%	17	−2.8

All 2022 College kickoff specialist rankings

Kickoff Touchbacks in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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