2011 College Return Yards Allowed per Punt Leaders
Total return yards allowed divided by every punt that was not blocked, so a fair catch or an out-of-bounds punt counts as zero. College punts whose play text records no outcome are left out. It is the fairest single measure of how much a returner gets to work with.
Lowest comes first. Coverage teams share the credit. In 2011, Bobby Cowan (0.0) topped college football punters in return yards allowed per punt, ahead of Matt Rinehart (0.0) and Cole Wagner (0.0). 115 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had 0.0.
Final 2011 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.
| Rk | Player | Team | Ret yds/punt | Punts | Avg | Net | In 20 | In 20 % | TB % | FC % | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bobby Cowan | Idaho | 0.0 | 87 | 46.5 | 44.2 | 19 | 22% | 11% | 49% | +21.0 |
| 2 | Matt Rinehart | Kent State | 0.0 | 78 | 42.8 | 39.6 | 23 | 28% | 13% | 13% | −12.7 |
| 3 | Cole Wagner | UConn | 0.0 | 80 | 41.1 | 39.9 | 27 | 34% | 6% | 55% | +3.6 |
| 4 | Mickey Groody | Florida Atlantic | 0.0 | 68 | 42.0 | 40.1 | 18 | 23% | 7% | 49% | −5.2 |
| 5 | Ryan Tydlacka | Kentucky | 0.0 | 79 | 43.6 | 42.0 | 19 | 25% | 9% | 23% | +10.5 |
| 6 | Ryan Allen | Louisiana Tech | 0.0 | 78 | 46.3 | 44.5 | 39 | 53% | 7% | 50% | +16.3 |
| 7 | Tom Hornsey | Memphis | 0.0 | 95 | 42.0 | 41.0 | 18 | 24% | 5% | 17% | −17.9 |
| 8 | Will Atterberry | North Texas | 0.0 | 74 | 43.5 | 41.6 | 29 | 39% | 9% | 37% | +7.5 |
| 9 | Ben Skaer | New Mexico | 0.0 | 73 | 39.7 | 38.8 | 21 | 29% | 4% | 28% | −17.8 |
| 10 | Brett Baer | Louisiana | 0.0 | 75 | 40.5 | 38.6 | 28 | 38% | 7% | 26% | +2.6 |
| 11 | Kyle Martens | Rice | 0.0 | 78 | 43.6 | 42.2 | 25 | 34% | 8% | 40% | +10.6 |
| 12 | Darragh O'Neill | Colorado | 0.0 | 74 | 42.6 | 41.7 | 26 | 36% | 3% | 38% | −0.5 |
| 13 | Tyler Campbell | Ole Miss | 0.0 | 72 | 43.6 | 41.5 | 28 | 39% | 10% | 35% | +8.4 |
| 14 | Chase Lansford | UNLV | 0.0 | 75 | 41.2 | 40.7 | 17 | 24% | 3% | 17% | −5.1 |
| 15 | Adam Pines | Indiana | 0.0 | 71 | 38.4 | 37.9 | 18 | 26% | 1% | 46% | −8.7 |
| 16 | Austin McCoy | Wyoming | 0.0 | 72 | 40.3 | 38.1 | 22 | 31% | 11% | 29% | −0.9 |
| 17 | Zack Campbell | Akron | 0.0 | 77 | 38.1 | 37.5 | 16 | 23% | 4% | 25% | −18.5 |
| 18 | Ryan Quigley | Boston College | 0.0 | 69 | 38.5 | 37.9 | 30 | 43% | 3% | 64% | −0.4 |
| 19 | Jake Capraro | New Mexico State | 0.0 | 74 | 39.3 | 38.9 | 20 | 30% | 3% | 44% | −8.5 |
| 20 | Andrew Shapiro | Fresno State | 0.0 | 66 | 39.7 | 38.2 | 23 | 35% | 8% | 49% | −2.6 |
| 21 | Baker Swedenburg | Mississippi State | 0.0 | 66 | 41.9 | 40.1 | 22 | 33% | 11% | 44% | +5.7 |
| 22 | Steven Clark | Auburn | 0.0 | 69 | 40.5 | 39.8 | 32 | 48% | 3% | 63% | +8.1 |
| 23 | Ben Buchanan | Ohio State | 0.0 | 65 | 40.8 | 40.2 | 27 | 42% | 3% | 60% | +6.1 |
| 24 | Hendrix Brakefield | Western Kentucky | 0.0 | 64 | 41.6 | 40.0 | 28 | 44% | 8% | 29% | +1.2 |
| 25 | Jay Karutz | Eastern Michigan | 0.0 | 58 | 38.8 | 38.0 | 30 | 47% | 5% | 40% | +3.4 |
| 26 | Kirby Van Der Kamp | Iowa State | 0.0 | 64 | 42.7 | 39.8 | 21 | 33% | 16% | 26% | +2.3 |
| 27 | Ron Doherty | Kansas | 0.0 | 64 | 42.8 | 40.9 | 17 | 27% | 9% | 35% | −0.2 |
| 28 | Wil Baumann | NC State | 0.0 | 64 | 37.4 | 36.6 | 21 | 33% | 5% | 63% | −7.2 |
| 29 | Richie Hogan | Central Michigan | 0.0 | 64 | 39.4 | 37.9 | 22 | 35% | 6% | 46% | −16.1 |
| 30 | Will Goggans | Troy | 0.0 | 63 | 41.2 | 38.7 | 21 | 33% | 8% | 17% | +1.0 |
| 31 | Alex Wulfeck | Wake Forest | 0.0 | 62 | 39.7 | 38.4 | 15 | 25% | 7% | 49% | −8.5 |
| 32 | Jimmy Howell | Virginia | 0.0 | 61 | 39.4 | 37.8 | 23 | 38% | 8% | 25% | −3.7 |
| 33 | Kase Whitehead | Marshall | 0.0 | 69 | 40.0 | 38.4 | 19 | 31% | 5% | 33% | −11.1 |
| 34 | Jacob Schum | Buffalo | 0.0 | 61 | 39.0 | 38.4 | 13 | 22% | 2% | 54% | −9.7 |
| 35 | Justin Brockhaus-Kann | South Florida | 0.0 | 62 | 36.3 | 35.3 | 23 | 38% | 7% | 51% | −4.0 |
| 36 | Ryan Doerr | Kansas State | 0.0 | 59 | 40.5 | 38.9 | 18 | 30% | 7% | 66% | −4.2 |
| 37 | Trey Barrow | Missouri | 0.0 | 60 | 45.0 | 38.8 | 12 | 20% | 30% | 18% | +7.2 |
| 38 | Dawson Zimmerman | Clemson | 0.0 | 59 | 42.0 | 38.6 | 21 | 36% | 17% | 53% | −4.4 |
| 39 | Scott Kovanda | Ball State | 0.0 | 57 | 43.6 | 41.5 | 23 | 39% | 7% | 27% | +10.3 |
| 40 | Aaron Munoz | UL Monroe | 0.0 | 51 | 37.3 | 35.4 | 13 | 23% | 4% | 42% | −25.2 |
| 41 | Jonathan Ginsburgh | Tulane | 0.0 | 59 | 41.7 | 39.6 | 16 | 28% | 7% | 38% | +0.1 |
| 42 | Justin Tucker | Texas | 0.0 | 55 | 38.5 | 37.6 | 17 | 30% | 2% | 59% | −13.9 |
| 43 | Matt Yoklic | Pittsburgh | 0.0 | 57 | 40.9 | 39.1 | 20 | 35% | 9% | 39% | +0.9 |
| 44 | Nick Ferrara | Maryland | 0.0 | 57 | 39.5 | 38.4 | 22 | 39% | 4% | 42% | +4.8 |
| 45 | Tress Way | Oklahoma | 0.0 | 57 | 41.2 | 39.1 | 33 | 58% | 11% | 36% | +3.2 |
| 46 | Zac Murphy | Miami (OH) | 0.0 | 56 | 39.1 | 36.8 | 17 | 30% | 5% | 12% | −9.0 |
| 47 | Brian Schmiedebusch | Bowling Green | 0.0 | 57 | 45.3 | 42.4 | 19 | 34% | 14% | 25% | +12.2 |
| 48 | Brian Stahovich | San Diego State | 0.0 | 57 | 43.4 | 39.8 | 20 | 36% | 18% | 50% | +12.6 |
| 49 | Dan Orseske | Minnesota | 0.0 | 57 | 37.0 | 35.2 | 13 | 23% | 9% | 40% | −15.5 |
| 50 | Daniel Wagner | Washington State | 0.0 | 55 | 40.8 | 38.7 | 16 | 29% | 4% | 26% | −4.4 |
| 51 | Jeff Locke | UCLA | 0.0 | 56 | 44.1 | 42.9 | 25 | 45% | 7% | 33% | +6.9 |
| 52 | Justin Doerner | Rutgers | 0.0 | 58 | 39.3 | 38.0 | 22 | 39% | 9% | 33% | −2.0 |
| 53 | Pete Kontodiakos | Colorado State | 0.0 | 57 | 43.6 | 42.4 | 14 | 25% | 5% | 36% | +10.3 |
| 54 | Ryan Erxleben | Texas Tech | 0.0 | 57 | 41.7 | 39.2 | 20 | 36% | 11% | 41% | +2.8 |
| 55 | Josh Hubner | Arizona State | 0.0 | 56 | 41.8 | 39.1 | 22 | 40% | 11% | 57% | +6.3 |
| 56 | Justin DuVernois | Illinois | 0.0 | 53 | 38.3 | 37.3 | 18 | 33% | 5% | 38% | −9.5 |
| 57 | Mike Sadler | Michigan State | 0.0 | 53 | 39.8 | 37.4 | 25 | 45% | 9% | 33% | −2.6 |
| 58 | Trey Ragland | UAB | 0.0 | 55 | 40.6 | 38.7 | 21 | 38% | 9% | 38% | −1.2 |
| 59 | Anthony Fera | Penn State | 0.0 | 55 | 42.0 | 37.9 | 21 | 39% | 20% | 37% | +4.5 |
| 60 | Josh Brisk | Florida International | 0.0 | 49 | 42.2 | 38.5 | 14 | 26% | 19% | 36% | −2.1 |
| 61 | Pat O'Donnell | Cincinnati | 0.0 | 56 | 43.9 | 41.0 | 25 | 46% | 13% | 19% | +11.4 |
| 62 | Brett Maher | Nebraska | 0.0 | 54 | 45.0 | 43.8 | 26 | 49% | 6% | 27% | +8.1 |
| 63 | Ryan Neir | Northern Illinois | 0.0 | 47 | 35.8 | 35.8 | 15 | 28% | 0% | 68% | −6.6 |
| 64 | Richard Kent | Vanderbilt | 0.0 | 55 | 43.3 | 42.2 | 20 | 38% | 8% | 25% | +10.4 |
| 65 | Tyler Bennett | Utah State | 0.0 | 53 | 44.2 | 42.4 | 19 | 37% | 12% | 6% | +3.7 |
| 66 | Alex Dunnachie | Hawai'i | 0.0 | 56 | 39.7 | 40.3 | 21 | 41% | 0% | 62% | +7.4 |
| 67 | Alex King | Duke | 0.0 | 50 | 42.1 | 39.7 | 18 | 35% | 8% | 20% | +0.7 |
| 68 | Brad Wing | LSU | 0.0 | 50 | 43.9 | 41.6 | 26 | 51% | 8% | 36% | +15.5 |
| 69 | Drew Butler | Georgia | 0.0 | 51 | 44.3 | 42.7 | 20 | 39% | 8% | 38% | +10.8 |
| 70 | Harrison Waid | San José State | 0.0 | 52 | 42.8 | 40.8 | 17 | 34% | 10% | 28% | +4.3 |
| 71 | Paul Hershey | Ohio | 0.0 | 48 | 39.5 | 36.7 | 24 | 49% | 10% | 49% | +4.7 |
| 72 | Shawn Powell | Florida State | 0.0 | 49 | 47.0 | 45.3 | 23 | 47% | 10% | 13% | +17.6 |
| 73 | Dylan Breeding | Arkansas | 0.0 | 49 | 45.2 | 44.6 | 18 | 38% | 4% | 57% | +5.5 |
| 74 | Jake Hurst | Nevada | 0.0 | 48 | 41.9 | 40.3 | 22 | 46% | 8% | 26% | −2.9 |
| 75 | Ryan Epperson | Texas A&M | 0.0 | 48 | 40.9 | 38.9 | 20 | 42% | 10% | 53% | +0.1 |
| 76 | Dalton Botts | Miami | 0.0 | 48 | 42.7 | 41.4 | 13 | 28% | 6% | 63% | +6.7 |
| 77 | Thomas Hibbard | North Carolina | 0.0 | 47 | 38.4 | 37.5 | 14 | 30% | 4% | 41% | −6.4 |
| 78 | Ben Turk | Notre Dame | 0.0 | 46 | 40.2 | 38.5 | 15 | 33% | 9% | 39% | −4.6 |
| 79 | Bryan Anger | California | 0.0 | 46 | 44.6 | 42.0 | 19 | 41% | 9% | 29% | +3.2 |
| 80 | Cody Webster | Purdue | 0.0 | 44 | 43.3 | 42.5 | 18 | 39% | 0% | 30% | +5.2 |
| 81 | Eric Guthrie | Iowa | 0.0 | 47 | 40.8 | 40.0 | 21 | 46% | 7% | 56% | +4.9 |
| 82 | Johnny Hekker | Oregon State | 0.0 | 50 | 44.0 | 42.7 | 22 | 48% | 13% | 16% | +12.9 |
| 83 | Brad Nortman | Wisconsin | 0.0 | 44 | 42.1 | 39.9 | 20 | 44% | 7% | 59% | +2.8 |
| 84 | Jackson Rice | Oregon | 0.0 | 45 | 45.8 | 45.2 | 20 | 44% | 4% | 54% | +10.4 |
| 85 | Joey Scribner-Howard | South Carolina | 0.0 | 47 | 38.9 | 37.5 | 11 | 24% | 5% | 48% | −10.8 |
| 86 | Richie Leone | Houston | 0.0 | 45 | 41.1 | 37.9 | 12 | 27% | 16% | 34% | +0.8 |
| 87 | Nathaniel Toulson | Middle Tennessee | 0.0 | 49 | 40.2 | 36.9 | 17 | 39% | 5% | 35% | −6.6 |
| 88 | Brandon McManus | Temple | 0.0 | 43 | 46.2 | 40.8 | 15 | 35% | 26% | 8% | +3.2 |
| 89 | Jonathan Fisher | Syracuse | 0.0 | 43 | 39.3 | 38.0 | 10 | 23% | 7% | 44% | −7.8 |
| 90 | Anson Kelton | TCU | 0.0 | 42 | 39.8 | 37.1 | 12 | 29% | 14% | 41% | −0.4 |
| 91 | Ian Campbell | UTEP | 0.0 | 48 | 46.1 | 44.4 | 15 | 36% | 12% | 24% | +8.3 |
| 92 | Matt Stone | SMU | 0.0 | 51 | 36.9 | 35.6 | 12 | 29% | 5% | 25% | −16.1 |
| 93 | Sean Sellwood | Utah | 0.0 | 42 | 44.2 | 41.3 | 14 | 33% | 14% | 42% | +9.5 |
| 94 | Vince Penza | Toledo | 0.0 | 40 | 37.9 | 35.9 | 10 | 24% | 7% | 21% | −12.0 |
| 95 | Ben Armer | Western Michigan | 0.0 | 39 | 41.2 | 39.0 | 23 | 56% | 12% | 33% | +5.1 |
| 96 | Brad Elkin | Boise State | 0.0 | 41 | 41.8 | 40.4 | 24 | 59% | 7% | 21% | +5.6 |
| 97 | Brandon Williams | Northwestern | 0.0 | 44 | 40.5 | 35.8 | 12 | 29% | 17% | 26% | +0.4 |
| 98 | David Bohner | UCF | 0.0 | 42 | 41.2 | 38.5 | 17 | 41% | 15% | 29% | +1.1 |
| 99 | Quinn Sharp | Oklahoma State | 0.0 | 42 | 46.6 | 43.0 | 15 | 37% | 17% | 27% | +7.1 |
| 100 | Kyle Dugandzic | Arizona | 0.0 | 40 | 46.0 | 41.0 | 15 | 38% | 25% | 16% | +7.8 |
| 101 | Ben Ryan | East Carolina | 0.0 | 42 | 40.0 | 38.1 | 13 | 33% | 10% | 13% | −4.5 |
| 102 | Josh Bleser | Louisville | 0.0 | 42 | 38.5 | 35.9 | 18 | 46% | 8% | 50% | +1.0 |
| 103 | Peter Boehme | Southern Miss | 0.0 | 38 | 42.8 | 40.1 | 14 | 36% | 13% | 15% | +4.9 |
| 104 | Kyle Negrete | USC | 0.0 | 39 | 40.1 | 40.3 | 22 | 58% | 0% | 41% | +3.9 |
| 105 | Riley Stephenson | BYU | 0.0 | 38 | 42.8 | 39.5 | 15 | 39% | 16% | 30% | +1.6 |
| 106 | Cole Way | Tulsa | 0.0 | 34 | 38.0 | 36.2 | 9 | 25% | 3% | 58% | −12.4 |
| 107 | Matt Darr | Tennessee | 0.0 | 40 | 38.1 | 37.3 | 12 | 33% | 6% | 43% | −1.6 |
| 108 | David Green | Stanford | 0.0 | 32 | 41.7 | 37.9 | 15 | 43% | 14% | 46% | −0.4 |
| 109 | Kiel Rasp | Washington | 0.0 | 36 | 45.1 | 42.9 | 9 | 26% | 9% | 48% | +1.4 |
| 110 | Pablo Beltran | Navy | 0.0 | 35 | 37.5 | 35.9 | 11 | 31% | 6% | 46% | −2.1 |
| 111 | Cody Mandell | Alabama | 0.0 | 36 | 38.9 | 37.7 | 11 | 32% | 6% | 67% | −1.3 |
| 112 | Sean Poole | Georgia Tech | 0.0 | 31 | 38.7 | 38.1 | 5 | 16% | 3% | 29% | −4.8 |
| 113 | Chris Boldt | Army | 0.0 | 31 | 39.8 | 38.6 | 11 | 37% | 7% | 10% | −1.3 |
| 114 | Kyle Christy | Florida | 0.0 | 27 | 41.3 | 40.4 | 10 | 33% | 7% | 52% | −0.7 |
| 115 | Michael Molinari | West Virginia | 0.0 | 30 | 37.2 | 35.9 | 11 | 37% | 7% | 21% | −1.4 |
All 2011 College punter rankings
Return Yards Allowed per Punt in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012
More 2011 College punter leaderboards
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- Punting Yards
- Gross Punting Average
- Net Punting Average
- Punts Inside the 20
- Inside the 20 Percentage
- Longest Punts
- Punt Touchbacks
- Fair Catches Forced
- Punts Downed
- Punts Out of Bounds
- Punts Returned
- Punt Return Yards Allowed
- Average Punt Return Allowed
- Blocked Punts
- Punt Points Added
- Punt Points per 100 Punts
- Fair Catch Percentage
- Punt Touchback Percentage
- Touchbacks Avoided (STOP Rank)
- Punts Out of Bounds Percentage
- Punts Downed Percentage
- Punt Return Percentage
- Opponent Starting Field Position
- Punts Inside the 10
- Punts of 50+ Yards
- 50+ Yard Punt Percentage
- Inside-20 to Touchback Ratio
- Net Average in Opponent Territory
- Net Average in Cold Weather
- Net Average in Wind
Other 2011 College rankings
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