2014 College Touchbacks Avoided (STOP Rank) Leaders

STOP (Saved Touchbacks Over Projection) is FootballKickingStats.com's touchback rating: how many touchbacks a punter avoided. Every punt gets an expected touchback chance: how often that season's punts from the same 5-yard stretch of the field went into the end zone. Add those chances up over a punter's season and subtract his real touchbacks. A punter who kicks often from midfield and keeps the ball out of the end zone climbs; one who punts from deep in his own end has few chances to gain or lose.

Higher is better. A STOP of +2.0 means two fewer touchbacks than an average punter would have had from the same spots. A short punt also avoids a touchback, so read it with net average. Blocked punts are left out. In 2014, Tyler Wedel (+4.9) led college football punters in touchbacks avoided (STOP rank), ahead of Kristian Stern (+4.5) and Joel Alesi (+3.7). 125 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had +0.3.

Final 2014 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	STOP	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Tyler Wedel	Northern Illinois	+4.9	59	41.7	41.0	26	44%	0%	34%	+11.5
2	Kristian Stern	UTSA	+4.5	83	41.2	39.7	33	40%	1%	49%	+11.9
3	Joel Alesi	San Diego State	+3.7	55	36.3	34.4	22	40%	2%	32%	−5.2
4	Christian Brinser	Missouri	+3.6	71	41.2	38.5	24	34%	1%	39%	+3.5
5	Keith Kostol	Oregon State	+3.3	69	39.6	37.1	31	45%	1%	33%	−2.4
6	Scott Harding	Hawai'i	+3.1	86	41.3	40.0	31	42%	3%	18%	+9.5
7	Nick Ellis	Toledo	+3.0	48	36.6	37.0	17	40%	0%	37%	−5.5
8	Alexander Kinal	Wake Forest	+3.0	81	43.6	42.7	28	35%	0%	24%	+21.8
9	Sam Irwin-HIll	Arkansas	+3.0	54	40.1	39.2	29	54%	4%	43%	+14.3
10	Logan Yunker	UNLV	+3.0	82	40.5	38.5	35	43%	5%	32%	+1.7
11	Alex Tardieu	Army	+2.8	44	39.3	38.7	19	43%	2%	44%	+8.3
12	Colin Downing	Iowa State	+2.6	69	39.4	38.4	19	28%	0%	36%	−1.6
13	Scott Arellano	BYU	+2.3	60	44.8	40.8	29	49%	3%	31%	+11.5
14	Spencer Smith	Memphis	+2.1	53	40.2	39.3	20	38%	2%	40%	+9.3
15	Garrett Swanson	Fresno State	+2.1	76	40.5	37.0	26	35%	4%	38%	−5.0
16	Bradley Pinion	Clemson	+2.0	70	42.5	39.8	28	41%	3%	44%	+8.7
17	Justin Vogel	Miami	+1.9	49	43.7	41.2	22	45%	2%	37%	+11.0
18	Riley Dixon	Syracuse	+1.9	75	42.4	37.4	27	36%	4%	42%	−3.9
19	Ryan Kay	Troy	+1.9	62	40.0	36.1	23	37%	3%	25%	−8.5
20	Hunter Mullins	UAB	+1.8	59	44.1	39.2	24	45%	4%	29%	+1.1
21	Will Gleeson	Ole Miss	+1.7	50	42.9	40.8	23	50%	4%	24%	+9.9
22	Tommy Hibbard	North Carolina	+1.6	64	41.1	39.4	29	45%	5%	40%	+2.6
23	Dillon Kidd	Iowa	+1.6	42	39.1	34.3	14	33%	2%	38%	−15.2
24	Joe Davidson	Bowling Green	+1.6	75	42.0	38.7	25	33%	4%	30%	+8.1
25	Logan McPherson	Louisiana Tech	+1.6	57	37.1	32.5	16	30%	4%	17%	−19.3
26	Drew Meyer	Wisconsin	+1.5	51	38.1	34.2	17	33%	6%	29%	−10.0
27	Nick O'Toole	West Virginia	+1.5	52	42.5	38.2	23	45%	4%	40%	−1.7
28	J. Schroeder	Western Michigan	+1.5	51	43.1	40.3	18	40%	2%	10%	+4.7
29	Owen Dubiel	Eastern Michigan	+1.4	58	40.0	38.7	20	34%	5%	14%	−0.9
30	Mitch Bonnstetter	Ohio	+1.4	63	41.8	38.8	24	38%	5%	17%	+3.9
31	Michael Carrizosa	San José State	+1.3	43	37.1	30.7	8	20%	3%	17%	−22.8
32	Cason Beatty	Florida State	+1.3	44	41.6	38.7	15	34%	5%	43%	+5.4
33	Jaron Bentrude	Utah State	+1.3	78	40.9	38.5	33	42%	6%	43%	+11.1
34	Alex Starzyk	Temple	+1.3	70	38.4	36.5	18	27%	6%	36%	−3.4
35	Anthony Melchiori	Kent State	+1.2	67	44.3	40.5	29	43%	4%	24%	+11.4
36	Wil Baumann	NC State	+1.2	56	45.3	40.2	25	45%	5%	30%	+12.9
37	Ethan Perry	TCU	+1.2	60	39.0	37.4	27	46%	8%	41%	+5.2
38	Daniel Carlson	Auburn	+1.1	37	41.6	37.5	12	32%	3%	22%	−2.4
39	Collin Barber	Georgia	+1.0	32	39.2	37.5	13	41%	3%	34%	−2.5
40	Matt Mengel	UCLA	+1.0	55	39.7	38.1	20	36%	5%	53%	−0.3
41	Spencer Roth	Baylor	+1.0	46	43.3	41.2	20	43%	4%	40%	+4.6
42	Darragh O'Neill	Colorado	+0.9	65	44.2	39.4	31	48%	5%	21%	+0.9
43	Jamie Keehn	LSU	+0.9	68	45.0	41.2	25	37%	4%	37%	+7.6
44	A.J. Hughes	Virginia Tech	+0.9	78	40.0	37.9	23	29%	5%	23%	+3.3
45	Daniel Pasquariello	Penn State	+0.8	41	37.7	35.7	14	34%	5%	27%	−7.8
46	Ryan Nowicki	Georgia Southern	+0.8	35	40.1	37.8	17	50%	6%	47%	−0.4
47	Caleb Houston	UCF	+0.8	48	38.5	35.3	19	41%	7%	29%	−0.6
48	Mattias Ciabatti	South Florida	+0.8	65	44.4	40.3	27	42%	5%	22%	+9.1
49	Thomas Meadows	Purdue	+0.7	58	39.8	36.2	14	24%	3%	30%	−7.2
50	William Russ	Texas	+0.7	66	42.3	38.2	22	33%	5%	30%	−1.3
51	Sam Foltz	Nebraska	+0.7	56	41.9	38.2	25	45%	7%	34%	+4.8
52	Alex Howell	Boston College	+0.7	59	42.9	38.7	23	40%	7%	21%	+6.1
53	Justin Wain	UConn	+0.7	74	38.8	36.2	23	34%	6%	38%	−10.3
54	Tim Gleeson	Rutgers	+0.6	32	40.3	35.9	11	34%	6%	19%	−1.8
55	Peter Picerelli	Tulane	+0.6	71	37.8	35.7	20	28%	6%	29%	−13.5
56	Eric Keena	North Texas	+0.5	43	44.8	39.4	9	21%	2%	29%	−0.2
57	Will Johnson	Texas State	+0.5	65	43.8	41.3	24	37%	6%	37%	+14.4
58	Ryan Winslow	Pittsburgh	+0.4	48	39.9	37.0	18	44%	10%	34%	+2.4
59	Bentlee Critcher	App State	+0.4	41	40.7	33.6	12	29%	5%	20%	−12.8
60	Joseph Occhipinti	Western Kentucky	+0.4	46	37.7	34.6	11	24%	7%	27%	−11.6
61	Landon Foster	Kentucky	+0.3	66	42.6	39.2	28	44%	6%	32%	+4.7
62	Tyler Sarrazin	Southern Miss	+0.3	66	39.5	37.2	18	31%	5%	30%	−8.7
63	Ben Rhyne	Stanford	+0.3	54	39.9	35.7	17	32%	9%	19%	+0.6
64	Sean Wale	Boise State	+0.2	58	41.0	36.9	21	36%	7%	45%	−6.0
65	Jackson Koonce	SMU	+0.1	74	40.8	36.7	13	18%	4%	15%	−8.3
66	Chris Gradone	Northwestern	+0.1	65	37.9	33.6	20	30%	8%	19%	−19.9
67	Tyler Hull	South Carolina	−0.1	38	41.2	37.1	15	39%	8%	32%	+0.6
68	Zachary Lopez	Middle Tennessee	−0.1	34	39.1	36.8	6	18%	6%	23%	−2.8
69	Luke Ferguson	Arkansas State	−0.1	52	41.5	39.3	22	42%	8%	39%	+0.9
70	Dalton Schomp	Florida Atlantic	−0.2	46	45.2	40.9	5	14%	3%	24%	+9.9
71	Ron Coluzzi	Central Michigan	−0.2	48	39.1	35.0	19	40%	10%	23%	−3.8
72	Nick Walsh	Kansas State	−0.3	40	40.5	37.4	13	32%	10%	46%	−0.8
73	Austin Rehkow	Idaho	−0.3	44	47.8	42.9	15	42%	6%	31%	+9.8
74	Stephen Witkowski	New Mexico State	−0.4	34	40.8	34.3	9	26%	9%	21%	−8.6
75	Hayden Hunt	Colorado State	−0.5	44	43.8	38.7	11	26%	7%	10%	+5.7
76	Ian Wheeler	Oregon	−0.5	39	39.1	36.5	11	29%	8%	24%	−6.8
77	Sam Geraci	Cincinnati	−0.5	46	39.0	35.9	13	30%	9%	28%	−5.2
78	Tyler Grassman	Buffalo	−0.6	50	40.7	38.4	18	36%	8%	35%	+3.5
79	Ryan Johnson	Louisville	−0.6	60	40.5	35.4	16	27%	7%	31%	−14.5
80	Kris Albarado	USC	−0.6	53	41.6	36.7	19	37%	8%	43%	−3.1
81	Ethan Wood	Wyoming	−0.7	66	41.4	37.3	19	30%	8%	27%	+1.9
82	Matt Haack	Arizona State	−0.8	52	43.3	38.9	18	36%	8%	14%	+1.3
83	Taylor Symmank	Texas Tech	−1.0	54	42.6	39.8	18	34%	9%	42%	+8.7
84	Cameron Johnston	Ohio State	−1.0	39	45.1	41.3	23	59%	13%	31%	+7.8
85	Kyle Schmidt	Ball State	−1.0	52	42.1	39.9	18	35%	8%	27%	+3.6
86	Erich Toth	Indiana	−1.1	77	40.7	36.3	21	29%	8%	43%	−8.3
87	Jose Laphitzondo	Florida International	−1.1	59	40.7	36.1	10	17%	7%	7%	−12.9
88	Worth Gregory	East Carolina	−1.1	43	43.5	37.7	15	36%	12%	24%	+3.2
89	Logan Piper	Houston	−1.1	39	39.3	36.2	11	29%	11%	42%	−1.4
90	Cole Leininger	California	−1.2	52	39.8	36.4	20	38%	10%	26%	−9.9
91	Kaleb Smith	Oklahoma State	−1.3	76	42.1	39.8	24	32%	7%	42%	+11.0
92	Jed Barnett	Oklahoma	−1.3	57	40.6	35.8	14	25%	9%	32%	−9.9
93	Jordan Dascalo	Washington State	−1.4	49	41.6	32.9	15	31%	10%	22%	−11.7
94	Drew Kaser	Texas A&M	−1.5	56	44.5	40.9	23	41%	9%	36%	+12.5
95	Daniel Cadona	Louisiana	−1.5	55	43.3	38.1	26	46%	11%	26%	+5.6
96	JK Scott	Alabama	−1.5	48	47.0	43.3	26	54%	10%	33%	+18.0
97	Alex Boy	Nevada	−1.6	54	44.5	38.4	14	27%	10%	10%	−0.3
98	Mike Sadler	Michigan State	−1.6	49	41.3	35.6	14	29%	10%	27%	−8.0
99	Christian Koch	Miami (OH)	−1.6	57	40.4	37.1	14	25%	9%	29%	−5.1
100	Dalton Parks	Tulsa	−1.6	70	42.0	38.8	21	30%	7%	30%	−2.9
101	Jay Mattox	UTEP	−1.7	34	41.7	35.5	9	26%	12%	16%	−7.0
102	Devon Bell	Mississippi State	−1.8	49	43.0	39.4	17	36%	11%	32%	+2.6
103	Tyler Williams	Marshall	−1.8	39	44.8	39.8	12	32%	11%	20%	+4.7
104	Zack Rogers	New Mexico	−1.9	56	42.6	37.8	21	37%	11%	13%	+1.4
105	Brian McDonald	Massachusetts	−2.0	57	37.7	34.5	12	21%	11%	31%	−15.8
106	Korey Durkee	Washington	−2.0	60	41.9	39.3	16	31%	10%	20%	+2.1
107	Justin DuVernois	Illinois	−2.1	72	44.4	40.4	21	30%	8%	23%	+10.1
108	Justin Manton	UL Monroe	−2.3	76	42.4	37.5	24	32%	11%	19%	+2.2
109	Brandon McKee	South Alabama	−2.3	66	41.7	37.1	24	39%	12%	19%	+1.1
110	Kyle Christy	Florida	−2.4	56	44.4	39.2	23	41%	13%	25%	+9.5
111	James Farrimond	Rice	−2.4	60	42.1	35.9	16	27%	12%	12%	−2.1
112	Colby Cooke	Vanderbilt	−2.8	66	42.4	39.0	24	37%	11%	16%	+7.5
113	Pablo Beltran	Navy	−2.9	34	44.3	39.2	15	44%	15%	19%	+4.6
114	Nathan Renfro	Maryland	−3.0	78	41.1	36.1	21	28%	11%	29%	−4.6
115	Will Monday	Duke	−3.1	56	43.4	40.0	21	39%	13%	33%	+11.3
116	Kyle Brindza	Notre Dame	−3.2	47	41.6	37.8	17	36%	15%	41%	+1.0
117	Alec Vozenilek	Virginia	−3.5	58	42.5	35.5	15	25%	13%	22%	−8.8
118	Matt Darr	Tennessee	−3.7	76	42.5	38.8	27	36%	13%	36%	+9.4
119	Will Hagerup	Michigan	−3.8	53	42.9	34.5	17	33%	18%	10%	−7.0
120	Tom Hackett	Utah	−4.2	77	47.0	42.8	37	49%	13%	28%	+23.6
121	Drew Riggleman	Arizona	−4.9	69	46.4	38.8	24	35%	13%	10%	+4.6
122	Will Conant	Air Force	−5.0	56	43.8	39.1	23	41%	16%	16%	+6.6
123	Peter Mortell	Minnesota	−5.6	62	45.5	39.9	25	40%	18%	24%	+10.5
124	Trevor Pardula	Kansas	−5.6	83	44.3	39.3	28	34%	12%	20%	+4.8
125	Zach Paul	Akron	−8.6	66	42.5	36.4	26	39%	21%	21%	−5.1

All 2014 College punter rankings

Touchbacks Avoided (STOP Rank) in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2013 2012 2011

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