2012 College Net Punting Average Leaders

Net average subtracts return yards and 20 yards for every touchback from each punt, then divides by punts. It is the yardage a punt really gains for its team, so it is the standard measure of punting.

Higher is better. Coverage teams affect it as well as the punter. In 2012, Ryan Allen (45.4) led college football punters in net punting average, ahead of Riley Stephenson (45.0) and Quinn Sharp (44.8). 119 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had 39.9.

Final 2012 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Net	Punts	Avg	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Ryan Allen	Louisiana Tech	45.4	45	48.0	22	49%	13%	23%	+15.2
2	Riley Stephenson	BYU	45.0	51	47.3	28	55%	10%	33%	+25.4
3	Quinn Sharp	Oklahoma State	44.8	41	45.8	19	46%	5%	48%	+7.9
4	Alex King	Texas	44.8	38	45.3	16	42%	3%	50%	+6.9
5	Sean Sellwood	Utah	44.5	38	46.5	13	34%	11%	62%	+9.3
6	Josh Hubner	Arizona State	44.4	52	47.1	22	43%	14%	43%	+15.6
7	Richard Kent	Vanderbilt	43.8	54	44.8	26	48%	6%	44%	+14.6
8	Alex Dunnachie	Hawai'i	43.7	49	46.2	16	33%	12%	42%	+11.1
9	Richie Leone	Houston	43.6	60	45.5	18	31%	10%	57%	+7.2
10	Dylan Breeding	Arkansas	43.6	53	45.6	20	37%	6%	38%	+13.0
11	Kyle Christy	Florida	43.5	62	46.1	30	48%	10%	49%	+16.7
12	Cayle Chapman-Brown	New Mexico State	43.2	70	44.3	24	38%	6%	42%	+3.1
13	Kyle Dugandzic	Arizona	42.8	48	43.4	21	44%	2%	39%	+5.0
14	Darragh O'Neill	Colorado	42.6	76	43.5	28	37%	4%	53%	+3.6
15	Ryan Epperson	Texas A&M	42.6	37	42.8	13	37%	3%	46%	+8.7
16	Brandon McManus	Temple	42.5	54	45.1	16	29%	9%	43%	+6.5
17	Kyle Negrete	USC	42.5	36	42.4	16	44%	0%	46%	+2.0
18	Tyler Williams	Marshall	42.4	43	45.2	17	39%	9%	26%	+4.5
19	Michael Palardy	Tennessee	42.3	36	43.1	16	46%	3%	39%	−0.7
20	Will Hagerup	Michigan	42.3	33	45.0	5	15%	12%	29%	−5.3
21	Spencer Roth	Baylor	42.3	32	44.2	12	38%	9%	35%	+5.1
22	Will Monday	Duke	42.3	66	44.1	20	30%	9%	27%	+4.4
23	Tom Hornsey	Memphis	42.3	60	43.4	29	47%	3%	23%	+6.3
24	Hunter Mullins	UAB	42.1	50	44.8	15	30%	14%	39%	−4.1
25	Tommy Hibbard	North Carolina	41.8	50	43.0	17	34%	6%	31%	+0.6
26	Cody Mandell	Alabama	41.7	46	43.8	17	37%	11%	43%	+7.5
27	Ethan Perry	TCU	41.6	56	45.2	22	39%	18%	38%	+6.7
28	Peter Picerelli	Tulane	41.6	69	41.2	13	29%	0%	29%	−4.1
29	Bobby Cowan	Idaho	41.5	65	42.8	16	25%	3%	46%	+0.3
30	Ben Skaer	New Mexico	41.5	54	43.9	17	33%	12%	33%	+4.9
31	Jeff Locke	UCLA	41.5	71	43.4	33	47%	10%	56%	+7.6
32	Landon Foster	Kentucky	41.5	61	42.9	18	30%	7%	35%	+3.8
33	Brad Wing	LSU	41.4	59	44.8	22	37%	17%	39%	+12.7
34	Ian Campbell	UTEP	41.4	66	42.6	20	34%	7%	31%	+8.0
35	Justin DuVernois	Illinois	41.4	73	41.9	19	26%	3%	34%	−1.3
36	Colter Johnson	Massachusetts	41.4	66	43.6	12	24%	8%	23%	−0.2
37	Jay Karutz	Eastern Michigan	41.3	69	42.7	24	34%	4%	45%	−0.2
38	Brett Baer	Louisiana	41.3	54	42.0	20	40%	4%	47%	+1.1
39	Mike Loftus	SMU	41.2	47	42.5	10	23%	5%	22%	+2.3
40	Mike Sadler	Michigan State	41.2	68	43.3	26	38%	7%	38%	−1.6
41	Trey Barrow	Missouri	41.1	68	43.0	31	44%	4%	49%	+1.1
42	Tim Gleeson	Wyoming	41.1	62	43.0	24	39%	10%	30%	−8.2
43	Kirby Van Der Kamp	Iowa State	41.0	69	41.6	27	40%	3%	46%	+10.3
44	Anthony Melchiori	Kent State	41.0	66	42.5	27	42%	8%	52%	+16.5
45	Keith Kostol	Oregon State	40.9	55	42.1	24	44%	5%	51%	+9.7
46	Pablo Beltran	Navy	40.9	40	43.9	20	50%	15%	46%	+3.7
47	Brett Maher	Nebraska	40.8	58	41.7	19	33%	5%	24%	−4.0
48	Daniel Zychlinski	Stanford	40.6	60	42.9	27	45%	12%	42%	+8.6
49	Michael Bowlin	Washington State	40.5	58	41.9	11	20%	7%	32%	+2.7
50	Gerald Levano	Boston College	40.5	57	42.0	12	20%	5%	20%	−8.0
51	Collin Barber	Georgia	40.5	57	41.6	22	38%	5%	64%	+6.8
52	Tyler Bennett	Utah State	40.4	57	41.8	30	54%	5%	46%	+6.2
53	Richie Hogan	Central Michigan	40.4	47	40.8	16	40%	3%	30%	−3.2
54	Harrison Waid	San José State	40.2	51	42.4	16	34%	11%	23%	−0.3
55	Alexander Kinal	Wake Forest	40.1	95	40.7	26	30%	6%	49%	−4.2
56	Will Scott	Troy	40.1	54	41.0	21	40%	4%	22%	+0.1
57	Pete Kontodiakos	Colorado State	40.0	59	46.5	19	35%	26%	26%	+1.1
58	Andrew Shapiro	Fresno State	40.0	58	42.4	17	29%	12%	22%	+2.9
59	Drew Meyer	Wisconsin	39.9	73	41.2	35	48%	7%	60%	+12.2
60	Jim Broadway	Ole Miss	39.9	54	41.2	13	27%	4%	55%	−5.1
61	David Baska	Air Force	39.8	33	40.5	9	27%	3%	39%	−3.9
62	Pat O'Donnell	Cincinnati	39.8	55	42.0	25	45%	11%	23%	+3.1
63	Cole Leininger	California	39.8	60	40.0	17	29%	2%	59%	−7.1
64	Chase Lansford	UNLV	39.8	65	41.8	23	35%	12%	29%	+3.3
65	Ben Turk	Notre Dame	39.7	48	40.6	13	27%	4%	50%	+1.8
66	Scott Kovanda	Ball State	39.7	44	40.2	25	57%	2%	43%	+4.3
67	Justin Manton	UL Monroe	39.7	43	40.2	15	38%	8%	50%	−0.6
68	Baker Swedenburg	Mississippi State	39.7	52	40.8	21	40%	6%	72%	+7.9
69	Chase Tenpenny	Nevada	39.6	43	42.9	12	28%	16%	20%	+1.6
70	A.J. Hughes	Virginia Tech	39.5	68	40.3	25	36%	3%	41%	−1.7
71	Zach Paul	Akron	39.5	65	40.9	17	30%	5%	34%	−3.4
72	Cody Webster	Purdue	39.4	66	42.5	28	43%	11%	43%	+3.9
73	Josh Brisk	Florida International	39.4	47	40.0	11	24%	2%	74%	−6.4
74	Vince Penza	Toledo	39.4	52	40.6	21	40%	6%	26%	+1.4
75	Tress Way	Oklahoma	39.3	48	43.6	18	38%	17%	31%	+7.3
76	Dalton Botts	Miami	39.3	54	40.5	29	54%	6%	39%	+11.3
77	Brandon Williams	Northwestern	39.3	59	39.6	19	33%	2%	47%	−1.7
78	Alec Vozenilek	Virginia	39.2	66	40.6	19	29%	6%	35%	+3.5
79	Peter Boehme	Southern Miss	39.1	63	40.0	18	32%	5%	35%	−8.7
80	Scott Garber	South Alabama	39.0	72	39.6	19	28%	3%	38%	−12.2
81	Ryan Doerr	Kansas State	39.0	36	41.7	14	38%	14%	52%	+3.7
82	Ben Buchanan	Ohio State	39.0	59	41.0	17	29%	7%	60%	+3.4
83	Hendrix Brakefield	Western Kentucky	38.9	40	40.9	12	30%	10%	27%	+2.7
84	Trent Tignor	East Carolina	38.7	59	42.4	12	24%	18%	23%	−4.0
85	Erich Toth	Indiana	38.7	48	39.5	9	19%	4%	47%	−4.2
86	Matt Yoklic	Pittsburgh	38.6	55	41.1	18	33%	9%	24%	−6.4
87	Steven Clark	Auburn	38.6	70	39.8	19	28%	6%	58%	+4.8
88	Seamus McMorrow	San Diego State	38.6	35	41.9	13	38%	18%	21%	+1.2
89	Spencer Benton	Clemson	38.5	42	38.6	14	34%	2%	48%	−2.2
90	Ron Doherty	Kansas	38.5	56	40.5	18	33%	7%	42%	−4.9
91	Zac Murphy	Miami (OH)	38.5	57	40.5	12	21%	11%	31%	−7.9
92	Cole Wagner	UConn	38.5	78	40.5	29	37%	10%	37%	+6.0
93	Jonathan Fisher	Syracuse	38.4	50	39.2	19	38%	4%	45%	+0.1
94	Jamie Boyle	UCF	38.3	59	40.7	26	44%	12%	33%	+6.5
95	Ryan Erxleben	Texas Tech	38.3	37	42.1	7	19%	6%	46%	−7.1
96	Nathan Renfro	Maryland	38.3	75	39.7	17	23%	7%	47%	−17.1
97	Brian Schmiedebusch	Bowling Green	38.3	65	41.8	23	35%	18%	18%	+0.8
98	Will Atterberry	North Texas	38.1	70	41.3	26	37%	16%	38%	+2.4
99	J. Schroeder	Western Michigan	38.1	56	40.8	11	23%	13%	40%	−12.5
100	Cole Way	Tulsa	38.0	69	39.4	22	31%	1%	42%	−8.0
101	Jackson Rice	Oregon	38.0	48	39.6	13	27%	8%	58%	−0.8
102	Trevor Harman	Boise State	38.0	38	41.6	9	24%	18%	25%	−2.6
103	Justin Brockhaus-Kann	South Florida	37.9	54	40.6	19	35%	9%	65%	+3.9
104	Josh Davis	Middle Tennessee	37.7	42	40.2	14	34%	8%	41%	−6.1
105	Tyler Hull	South Carolina	37.5	51	39.4	15	29%	10%	53%	−6.5
106	Connor Kornbrath	Iowa	37.3	53	37.9	11	22%	2%	45%	−9.2
107	Wil Baumann	NC State	37.3	71	39.3	19	27%	7%	62%	−11.1
108	Christian Eldred	Minnesota	37.2	63	38.5	22	37%	7%	50%	−3.5
109	Travis Coons	Washington	36.9	51	39.5	14	27%	10%	58%	−3.1
110	Ryan Neir	Northern Illinois	36.8	45	37.8	19	49%	0%	55%	−0.8
111	Grant Venham	Ohio	36.8	53	39.4	21	47%	9%	41%	−3.6
112	Cason Beatty	Florida State	36.6	42	38.4	21	49%	5%	56%	+1.1
113	Alex Butterworth	Penn State	36.6	51	37.4	20	39%	4%	48%	−7.0
114	Sean Kelly	Florida Atlantic	36.5	68	39.9	10	25%	10%	21%	−12.7
115	Chris Boldt	Army	36.4	34	38.1	9	26%	9%	43%	−8.4
116	Taylor Cook	Rice	35.7	37	36.4	10	28%	3%	69%	−9.5
117	Ryan Johnson	Louisville	35.4	48	39.5	18	36%	13%	45%	−13.1
118	Justin Doerner	Rutgers	35.3	71	37.4	17	24%	10%	30%	−25.5
119	Tyler Grassman	Buffalo	34.0	80	35.4	19	26%	4%	41%	−28.4

All 2012 College punter rankings

Net Punting Average in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2011

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