2023 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 2023, Noah Rauschenberg (71) led college football kickoff specialists in kickoff touchbacks, ahead of Tyler Loop (66) and Camden Lewis (64). 227 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 2023 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	TB	Kickoffs	Avg dist	TB%	Returns	Points
1	Noah Rauschenberg	North Texas	71	77	64.5	92%	6	−4.4
2	Tyler Loop	Arizona	66	76	63.8	87%	10	+5.7
3	Camden Lewis	Oregon	64	89	63.2	72%	25	+4.6
4	Jared Zirkel	Georgia	63	95	62.7	66%	26	+12.8
5	Tommy Doman	Michigan	62	88	63.6	70%	26	+11.3
6	Caden Davis	Ole Miss	59	70	64.4	84%	11	+9.6
7	Tabor Allen	Kansas	57	76	62.1	75%	19	+5.6
8	Ryan Fitzgerald	Florida State	57	83	63.8	69%	25	+11.0
9	Trey Smack	Florida	56	69	63.2	81%	13	+7.8
10	Robert Gunn III	Clemson	55	64	64.4	86%	8	+5.0
11	Josh Turbyville	Tennessee	55	74	63.3	74%	18	+2.4
12	Cam Little	Arkansas	53	62	64.2	85%	9	+4.2
13	Collin Rogers	SMU	53	99	62.6	54%	46	−2.6
14	Graham Nicholson	Miami (OH)	52	70	63.8	74%	18	+10.5
15	Zach Schmit	Oklahoma	52	89	62.2	58%	37	+0.3
16	Spencer Shrader	Notre Dame	51	80	63.5	64%	28	+5.9
17	Buck Buchanan	Louisiana Tech	50	61	63.8	82%	11	+6.5
18	Kyle Lowe	Virginia Tech	50	67	63.1	75%	17	+2.6
19	Nathan Dibert	LSU	50	93	60.6	54%	35	+2.8
20	Ethan Albertson	New Mexico State	49	77	62.0	64%	28	+7.6
21	Grady Gross	Washington	48	89	62.5	54%	40	+14.1
22	Dragan Kesich	Minnesota	47	56	64.7	84%	9	+0.1
23	Liam Boyd	North Carolina	47	63	60.6	75%	13	−5.6
24	Colton Theaker	Washington State	47	69	63.9	68%	22	+6.3
25	Andres Borregales	Miami	47	70	62.1	67%	18	+4.7
26	Zach Long	Troy	47	76	63.6	62%	29	+1.9
27	Will Reichard	Alabama	47	82	63.7	57%	33	+13.7
28	Will Stone	Texas	47	91	63.6	52%	43	+6.9
29	Brady Denaburg	Syracuse	46	52	63.4	88%	6	+3.5
30	Griffin Kell	TCU	46	69	62.6	67%	23	−4.7
31	Harrison Mevis	Missouri	45	77	62.2	58%	31	+6.3
32	Logan Ward	Oklahoma State	44	78	62.4	56%	31	+9.2
33	Michael Lantz	Georgia Southern	43	59	63.9	73%	16	+5.5
34	Liam Gray	Coastal Carolina	43	64	63.1	67%	21	+4.0
35	Jayden Fielding	Ohio State	43	75	63.3	57%	32	+9.4
36	Jack Howes	Maryland	42	66	63.2	64%	24	−7.1
37	Mitch Jeter	South Carolina	41	60	63.1	68%	18	−4.1
38	Gabriel Nwosu	Penn State	41	66	63.4	62%	25	+5.8
39	Jonah Dalmas	Boise State	41	81	61.5	51%	40	−15.3
40	Joshua Karty	Stanford	40	50	64.8	80%	10	+7.9
41	Drew Stevens	Iowa	40	53	63.8	75%	13	+7.6
42	Reese Burkhardt	Texas Tech	40	63	63.5	63%	23	+8.8
43	Tate Sandell	UTSA	40	70	62.8	57%	30	+4.0
44	Cory Munson	Western Kentucky	38	62	63.7	61%	24	+8.8
45	Colton Boomer	UCF	38	68	62.0	56%	30	−21.9
46	Cole Talley	Army	37	51	63.9	73%	14	−1.1
47	Ben Sauls	Pittsburgh	37	52	63.6	71%	15	+6.4
48	Brock Travelstead	Louisville	37	59	61.8	63%	19	+1.8
49	Alen Karajic	Jacksonville State	37	64	63.3	58%	27	+2.4
50	Connor Madden	James Madison	37	71	62.8	52%	34	+5.5
51	Jude McAtamney	Rutgers	36	54	60.8	67%	17	+3.5
52	Chance Poore	Kentucky	36	56	62.0	64%	17	+3.2
53	Casey Glover	Tulane	36	70	62.6	51%	30	+11.2
54	Chris Tennant	Kansas State	36	87	60.9	41%	50	−9.6
55	Carter Davis	Florida Atlantic	35	54	63.6	65%	19	+4.8
56	Atticus Sappington	Oregon State	34	53	62.2	64%	19	+0.3
57	Gavin Stewart	Georgia Tech	34	53	62.5	64%	19	−6.6
58	Will Ferrin	BYU	34	55	62.5	62%	21	+8.9
59	Michael Hughes	App State	34	82	60.4	41%	47	+14.5
60	Ben Falck	Hawai'i	33	52	63.2	63%	19	+0.3
61	Collin Smith	NC State	33	57	61.7	58%	24	+0.6
62	Alex McPherson	Auburn	33	63	61.7	52%	29	−0.3
63	Dylan Lynch	Fresno State	33	66	62.8	50%	33	+8.0
64	Rece Verhoff	Marshall	32	57	58.5	56%	24	−1.8
65	John Hoyland	Wyoming	32	60	63.3	53%	28	−2.3
66	Tyler Black	Wake Forest	31	43	63.2	72%	12	+3.6
67	Jacob Meeks	South Alabama	31	72	58.8	43%	41	+3.6
68	Randy Bond	Texas A&M	30	59	63.3	51%	29	+6.8
69	Alex McNulty	Buffalo	29	42	62.5	69%	13	−2.3
70	Jonathan Kim	Michigan State	28	42	63.5	67%	14	+3.2
71	Reagan Tubbs	Air Force	28	57	61.9	49%	29	+13.6
72	Andre Meono	UNLV	28	82	60.9	34%	54	+6.2
73	Enock Gota	Rice	27	42	63.7	64%	15	+0.2
74	Matthew Killam	Nevada	27	42	63.1	64%	15	+4.5
75	Bryan Hansen	Colorado State	27	44	63.5	61%	17	−0.9
76	Keegan Shackford	Iowa State	27	63	61.3	43%	36	0.0
77	Blake Glessner	UCLA	26	52	62.9	50%	24	+7.8
78	Elliott Nimrod	Utah State	26	56	59.8	46%	30	+1.5
79	Max Morgan	Liberty	26	84	59.2	31%	58	−0.9
80	Nick Barr-Mira	Mississippi State	25	30	64.7	83%	5	+2.7
81	Tristan Mattson	Central Michigan	25	53	60.9	47%	28	+1.2
82	Jace Feely	Colorado	24	43	62.7	56%	19	+4.6
83	Dario Longhetto	Arizona State	24	45	62.5	53%	21	+7.1
84	Chris Freeman	Indiana	24	50	61.1	48%	26	−2.4
85	Derek McCormick	UL Monroe	23	36	62.0	64%	13	−4.5
86	Will Faris	Vanderbilt	23	54	62.6	43%	30	+3.1
87	Jack Martin	Houston	22	52	61.6	42%	30	−4.6
88	Kyle Cunanan	Charlotte	21	45	60.3	47%	24	−7.0
89	Palmer Domschke	Western Michigan	21	55	59.1	38%	34	−7.2
90	Scott Payne	Middle Tennessee	21	58	61.3	36%	37	+6.2
91	David Olano	Illinois	20	43	63.5	47%	23	+2.1
92	Charlie Ham	Duke	20	44	60.5	45%	23	+3.8
93	Laith Marjan	East Carolina	20	49	61.9	41%	29	+3.7
94	Matt Ganyard	Virginia	20	55	59.9	36%	35	−0.4
95	Brendan Farrell	South Florida	20	67	59.8	30%	47	−4.1
96	Joe McFadden	UConn	19	44	60.0	43%	25	−0.3
97	Buzz Flabiano	UTEP	19	46	60.2	41%	26	−4.7
98	Luke Drzewiecki	New Mexico	19	47	57.4	40%	27	−0.7
99	Lucas Matias	Florida International	18	46	61.8	39%	28	−9.3
100	CJ Kolodziey	Massachusetts	18	50	61.1	36%	32	−1.1
101	Michael Hayes II	West Virginia	18	61	61.2	30%	43	+3.0
102	Eddie Czaplicki	USC	16	30	62.7	53%	14	+1.2
103	Cole Becker	Utah	16	33	62.1	48%	16	−2.2
104	Braeden McAlister	Georgia State	16	34	63.4	47%	18	+1.4
105	Jack Browning	San Diego State	16	37	63.0	43%	21	+2.3
106	Denis Lynch	USC	16	57	60.7	28%	41	−1.3
107	Isaac Kone	Georgia State	15	24	63.7	63%	9	+3.0
108	Tristian Vandenberg	Memphis	15	56	60.1	27%	41	+0.6
109	Taren Schive	San José State	15	66	53.8	23%	51	−1.0
110	Jack Van Dyke	Wisconsin	14	30	62.8	47%	16	+3.8
111	Tristan Alvano	Nebraska	14	32	61.6	44%	17	−0.2
112	Jack Stone	Baylor	14	40	62.4	35%	26	+3.4
113	Connor Gibbs	Southern Miss	14	57	60.7	25%	42	+0.3
114	Jonah Delange	UAB	14	65	56.9	22%	51	−16.3
115	Rory Bell	Cincinnati	13	30	61.2	43%	17	−3.9
116	Christian Pavon	Sam Houston	13	41	59.7	32%	28	−3.8
117	Jack Drake	Ball State	13	46	57.2	28%	33	−10.6
118	Jordan Noyes	Colorado State	12	15	64.5	80%	3	+1.9
119	Luca Lombardo	Boston College	12	37	59.8	32%	25	−4.2
120	Michael Denning	Toledo	12	45	56.9	27%	33	+3.8
121	Ethan Sanchez	Old Dominion	11	19	61.9	58%	8	+0.3
122	Gavin Lahm	Wisconsin	11	25	60.9	44%	14	+1.8
123	Matthew Velasco	Texas State	11	26	63.3	42%	15	−3.8
124	Nathan Hawks	Cincinnati	11	30	62.3	37%	19	+3.9
125	Chris Van Eekeren	Temple	11	34	60.9	32%	23	−0.7
126	Caleb Krockover	Purdue	11	35	60.5	31%	24	−7.1
127	Andrew Glass	Kent State	11	41	60.0	27%	29	−4.9
128	Alex Kasee	Ohio	11	56	55.2	20%	45	−11.9
129	Michael Luckhurst	California	11	57	59.8	19%	45	+3.1
130	Thomas Leo	Louisiana	11	67	58.0	16%	56	0.0
131	Carl Hardin	Temple	10	17	62.1	59%	7	−0.3
132	Blair Zepeda	Texas A&M	10	21	62.4	48%	11	0.0
133	Dante Jackson	Akron	10	40	59.3	25%	30	−1.1
134	Michael Slaba	Tulsa	10	42	60.7	24%	32	+4.5
135	Jack Sauder	Bowling Green	10	63	58.5	16%	53	−4.5
136	Ryan Coe	North Carolina	9	12	64.0	75%	3	−20.2
137	Everett Hayes	Oregon State	9	20	61.6	45%	11	+4.5
138	B.Denaburg	Western Michigan	8	8	65.0	100%	0	+1.9
139	Marlon Hauck	Mississippi State	8	18	63.8	44%	10	+3.0
140	Tim Horn	Rice	8	23	60.4	35%	15	−0.9
141	Luke Pawlak	Toledo	8	29	56.7	28%	21	+0.9
142	Jake Seibert	Northern Illinois	8	46	57.9	17%	36	−3.1
143	Alex Felkins	Penn State	7	9	65.0	78%	2	+1.5
144	Brendan Franke	Georgia Southern	7	13	53.9	54%	6	0.0
145	Tanner Gillis	Memphis	7	27	59.7	26%	19	−1.8
146	Ozlo Rigby	Old Dominion	7	37	61.7	19%	30	−10.8
147	Michael James	Texas State	7	38	58.0	18%	31	−2.4
148	Clune Van Andel	Arkansas State	7	43	59.3	16%	36	+1.1
149	G.Nwosu	West Virginia	6	6	65.0	100%	0	−2.5
150	C.Davis	Georgia Tech	6	8	62.8	75%	0	−9.2
151	Chase Carter	Utah	6	26	62.1	23%	20	+2.7
152	Ryan Kingston	Eastern Michigan	6	31	59.2	19%	25	+2.8
153	Kellan McLaughlin	Miami (OH)	5	6	64.5	83%	1	+0.9
154	RJ Lopez	UCLA	5	8	65.9	63%	3	−0.3
155	Luke Akers	Northwestern	5	11	62.7	45%	6	−2.3
156	Caleb Griffin	Illinois	5	15	59.0	33%	10	+1.1
157	Ben Freehill	Purdue	5	17	55.5	29%	12	−8.3
158	L.Prescott	Nevada	4	7	59.4	57%	2	−8.5
159	Grant Meadors	Oregon	4	8	62.8	50%	4	+1.5
160	Brayden Beck	Liberty	4	9	62.6	44%	5	+1.2
161	Caleb Carlson	Wake Forest	4	9	64.4	44%	5	+2.1
162	Alex Raynor	Kentucky	4	10	58.4	40%	6	−4.0
163	Brian Buschini	Nebraska	4	10	57.6	40%	6	+1.2
164	Cristiano Palazzo	Colorado	4	15	54.6	27%	11	−6.9
165	Liam Connor	Boston College	4	17	62.5	24%	13	+3.3
166	Evan Warren	Navy	4	27	56.4	15%	23	−6.8
167	Gavin Marshall	Oklahoma	3	3	61.0	100%	0	+0.4
168	Zac Yoakam	Notre Dame	3	3	65.0	100%	0	+0.4
169	Cole Hussung	Louisville	3	4	62.3	75%	1	−0.4
170	G.Stewart	Louisville	3	4	64.0	75%	1	−0.6
171	E.Nimrod	New Mexico	3	5	60.0	60%	0	+1.0
172	Matthew Dapore	Air Force	3	5	64.0	60%	2	+0.4
173	Nick Keller	Louisville	3	8	62.3	38%	5	+0.9
174	Colby Sessums	Sam Houston	3	9	62.9	33%	6	−0.1
175	Ryan Degyansky	Duke	3	11	61.4	27%	8	+0.8
176	Kanon Woodill	Northern Illinois	3	13	57.4	23%	10	−0.7
177	Jack Olsen	Northwestern	3	16	53.8	19%	13	−2.3
178	Nathan Kirkwood	Navy	3	18	57.2	17%	15	+0.6
179	Isaiah Hankins	Baylor	3	20	59.0	15%	17	−0.7
180	Parker Lewis	Ohio State	2	2	65.0	100%	0	+0.2
181	Blake Ford	Arkansas	2	3	47.0	67%	1	−3.0
182	C.Smith	Wake Forest	2	3	64.7	67%	1	−0.5
183	Jace Gilbert	Iowa State	2	3	65.0	67%	1	+0.9
184	L.Drzewiecki	Utah State	2	3	51.7	67%	1	−2.0
185	N.Keller	Georgia Tech	2	3	63.7	67%	0	−2.9
186	Stephen Rusnak	Michigan State	2	3	65.0	67%	1	+0.9
187	Danny King	West Virginia	2	4	65.0	50%	2	+0.5
188	G.Stewart	Ole Miss	2	4	63.5	50%	2	−0.1
189	Garrison Rippa	Jacksonville State	2	5	58.0	40%	3	−0.2
190	Julio Macias	Purdue	2	5	63.4	40%	3	−1.0
191	Todd Pelino	Duke	2	7	62.1	29%	5	+0.5
192	Gabriel Plascencia	San Diego State	2	16	62.0	13%	14	+0.8
193	Kenyon Bowyer	Eastern Michigan	2	16	49.9	13%	14	−4.8
194	Alan Guerrieri	Louisiana	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
195	Brock Taylor	Vanderbilt	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
196	Emmet Kenney	Stanford	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
197	Evan Johnson	Maryland	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
198	Jack Stonehouse	Syracuse	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
199	James Turner	Michigan	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
200	Liam Rickman	Georgia State	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
201	Lucas Carneiro	Western Kentucky	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
202	Marcello Diomede	Notre Dame	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
203	Max Walker	Oregon State	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
204	Quinn Castner	Clemson	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.4
205	Ryan Sanborn	Texas	1	1	65.0	100%	0	−0.6
206	Seth Keller	Kansas	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
207	T.Black	NC State	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.1
208	Timmy Bleekrode	Nebraska	1	1	50.0	100%	0	+0.7
209	Will Hutchinson	Miami	1	1	65.0	100%	0	+0.4
210	Caden Costa	Ole Miss	1	2	59.0	50%	1	+1.0
211	Charles Steinkamp	New Mexico	1	2	61.0	50%	1	+0.2
212	M.Hayes	Penn State	1	2	65.0	50%	1	+0.2
213	B.Travelstead	Georgia Tech	1	3	65.0	33%	2	−2.2
214	Ethan Moczulski	Texas A&M	1	3	63.3	33%	2	+0.7
215	Z.Schreiner	Stanford	1	3	60.0	33%	1	−1.6
216	E.Kiely	Stanford	1	4	61.5	25%	3	+0.6
217	Kyler Halvorsen	San José State	1	4	53.5	25%	3	+2.3
218	Mac Chiumento	Florida State	1	4	58.5	25%	2	+0.8
219	Aidan Birr	Georgia Tech	1	5	59.0	20%	4	−0.4
220	Noe Ruelas	UConn	1	5	64.2	20%	4	+1.7
221	Braxton Guilbeau	UL Monroe	1	6	44.3	17%	5	−4.3
222	Conor Talty	Alabama	1	6	60.8	17%	5	−0.5
223	Cameron Carson	Massachusetts	1	7	53.7	14%	6	−5.8
224	Connor Bryan	Tulsa	1	8	47.5	13%	7	−2.9
225	Mateen Bhaghani	California	1	12	53.8	8%	10	−10.1
226	Dominic Zvada	Arkansas State	1	16	48.1	6%	15	−6.6
227	Henry Helms	Northwestern	1	30	54.6	3%	29	−7.9

All 2023 College kickoff specialist rankings

Kickoff Touchbacks in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

More 2023 College kickoff specialist leaderboards

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