2015 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 2015, Matt Haack (+5.0) led college football punters in touchbacks avoided (STOP rank), ahead of Kyle Schmidt (+4.1) and Andy Teasdall (+4.0). 126 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had +0.3.

Final 2015 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	STOP	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Matt Haack	Arizona State	+5.0	67	43.3	40.3	33	49%	0%	19%	+7.2
2	Kyle Schmidt	Ball State	+4.1	58	39.7	37.7	23	40%	0%	25%	−4.3
3	Andy Teasdall	Clemson	+4.0	58	39.0	37.5	19	33%	0%	36%	−3.8
4	Nick Porebski	Oregon State	+3.6	72	41.1	38.5	29	40%	1%	44%	−4.5
5	Hunter Niswander	Northwestern	+3.3	78	38.3	37.5	23	29%	3%	37%	−2.6
6	Alex Kinney	Colorado	+3.3	66	40.1	38.5	26	47%	2%	28%	+2.7
7	Rigoberto Sanchez	Hawai'i	+3.2	74	45.1	42.0	33	52%	2%	26%	+15.3
8	Peter Mortell	Minnesota	+3.0	70	43.3	39.2	29	41%	3%	22%	+7.4
9	Tommy Openshaw	Vanderbilt	+3.0	79	40.9	34.9	30	38%	4%	36%	−10.7
10	Zach Sinor	Oklahoma State	+2.9	68	40.3	38.0	30	45%	4%	38%	+5.5
11	Chris Qualls	UL Monroe	+2.7	87	36.7	34.1	23	27%	4%	42%	−25.0
12	Ryan Rodwell	Georgia Tech	+2.6	46	39.0	37.3	17	38%	0%	25%	+1.7
13	Gerald Shouse	Louisiana Tech	+2.6	48	40.7	38.1	28	57%	4%	33%	+4.6
14	Peter Picerelli	Tulane	+2.5	31	36.7	35.0	12	40%	0%	39%	−6.6
15	Tyler Sarrazin	Southern Miss	+2.5	39	40.1	35.9	20	50%	5%	3%	+3.0
16	Drew Galitz	Baylor	+2.5	40	40.7	40.0	13	33%	0%	38%	+4.9
17	Christian Koch	Miami (OH)	+2.4	82	38.4	36.2	19	23%	2%	32%	−19.7
18	Colin Downing	Iowa State	+2.4	53	40.9	38.6	21	39%	2%	38%	−3.1
19	Alexander Kinal	Wake Forest	+2.4	75	43.8	41.2	34	45%	4%	34%	+14.6
20	Ethan Perry	TCU	+2.2	61	39.2	37.4	27	44%	7%	31%	+1.9
21	Ethan Wood	Wyoming	+2.2	67	41.8	40.1	24	37%	5%	11%	+8.4
22	Aaron Dalton	Utah State	+2.2	66	41.0	37.7	26	39%	5%	34%	−3.4
23	Hayden Hunt	Colorado State	+2.1	50	46.3	42.5	26	51%	2%	33%	+13.2
24	Zack Rogers	New Mexico	+2.1	64	41.6	39.8	21	33%	3%	30%	+8.4
25	Josh Williams	SMU	+2.1	38	38.7	36.8	11	30%	0%	11%	−8.5
26	Logan Piper	Houston	+1.9	57	40.2	38.7	24	43%	5%	32%	+7.5
27	Joe Schopper	Purdue	+1.9	58	40.2	38.3	19	33%	3%	32%	−4.4
28	Toby Baker	Arkansas	+1.9	42	41.3	38.1	21	50%	5%	37%	+4.0
29	Nicolas Pritchard	Maryland	+1.8	55	38.2	36.3	13	24%	2%	33%	−13.4
30	Arthur Hart	Charlotte	+1.8	75	38.6	36.8	22	29%	4%	47%	−12.4
31	Corey Fatony	Missouri	+1.7	81	42.9	40.0	27	33%	4%	33%	+10.0
32	Will Gleeson	Ole Miss	+1.7	41	40.5	38.0	14	35%	3%	35%	−1.6
33	James Farrimond	Rice	+1.6	59	43.1	36.8	17	33%	4%	29%	−4.8
34	Johnny Townsend	Florida	+1.5	79	44.9	42.7	34	43%	5%	33%	+23.6
35	Nick Ellis	Toledo	+1.5	38	38.2	37.1	13	39%	3%	27%	+2.0
36	Alex Tardieu	Army	+1.5	50	40.2	38.0	15	30%	4%	31%	+0.2
37	Matt Mengel	UCLA	+1.4	50	39.9	39.0	18	37%	4%	43%	+4.8
38	Blake O'Neill	Michigan	+1.4	53	41.3	37.4	25	49%	8%	26%	+4.6
39	Austin Seibert	Oklahoma	+1.4	51	42.4	41.6	22	44%	4%	54%	+10.0
40	Mitch Bonnstetter	Ohio	+1.3	62	38.8	36.9	26	42%	6%	36%	−2.7
41	Joshua Appleby	Louisville	+1.3	63	40.2	38.2	28	44%	5%	51%	+1.0
42	Satchel Ziffer	Old Dominion	+1.2	61	40.2	37.8	18	30%	2%	11%	−8.1
43	Anthony Torres	New Mexico State	+1.1	66	40.6	35.7	23	35%	5%	5%	−15.2
44	Caleb Houston	UCF	+1.1	65	44.2	40.2	30	46%	5%	47%	+4.6
45	Matthew Wyman	Kansas	+1.0	53	41.5	37.6	13	24%	2%	8%	−8.1
46	Dillon Kidd	Iowa	+1.0	53	40.4	37.0	24	44%	8%	37%	+4.4
47	Landon Foster	Kentucky	+0.8	61	40.3	35.9	18	30%	3%	25%	−16.6
48	Garrett Swanson	Fresno State	+0.8	67	42.2	37.3	21	31%	4%	40%	−7.6
49	Cole Leininger	California	+0.8	35	41.5	39.6	12	35%	3%	53%	+2.4
50	Ron Coluzzi	Central Michigan	+0.8	59	39.2	37.5	18	33%	5%	37%	−4.6
51	Ian Wheeler	Oregon	+0.7	44	40.1	34.2	13	28%	5%	33%	−13.8
52	Kris Albarado	USC	+0.7	59	41.3	36.9	16	27%	5%	44%	−5.8
53	Sean Kelly	South Carolina	+0.7	55	44.3	41.3	25	45%	7%	25%	+10.3
54	Worth Gregory	East Carolina	+0.7	60	43.0	40.1	34	56%	10%	22%	+17.6
55	Austin Barnes	Eastern Michigan	+0.6	45	43.6	40.6	16	36%	2%	19%	+2.1
56	Daniel Pasquariello	Penn State	+0.6	52	40.3	36.2	14	27%	6%	16%	−0.7
57	Jacob Ambrose	Northern Illinois	+0.5	65	37.8	37.7	21	35%	5%	37%	−2.6
58	Jonny Linehan	BYU	+0.5	58	43.0	38.4	17	29%	5%	28%	−1.4
59	Aleem Sunanon	South Alabama	+0.5	31	42.7	39.7	6	19%	0%	23%	+1.8
60	Justin Wain	UConn	+0.4	70	37.9	35.2	21	30%	7%	49%	−7.2
61	Zachary Block	Tulane	+0.4	47	37.9	32.5	6	13%	2%	39%	−25.4
62	Luke Ferguson	Arkansas State	+0.4	67	42.9	40.4	33	49%	9%	29%	+12.5
63	Alex Robinson	Stanford	+0.3	35	42.9	40.2	16	47%	6%	26%	+4.4
64	Cason Beatty	Florida State	+0.2	55	44.5	40.0	22	41%	6%	34%	+3.9
65	Eric Keena	North Texas	+0.2	60	44.2	41.6	20	34%	5%	38%	+4.5
66	Stone Wilson	Florida International	+0.2	42	40.5	38.3	9	25%	6%	40%	+0.7
67	Alex Boy	Nevada	+0.1	63	42.3	38.2	18	29%	6%	37%	+2.5
68	Steven Coutts	Louisiana	0.0	59	42.4	39.2	23	38%	7%	41%	+5.5
69	Alex Howell	Boston College	0.0	92	41.7	39.8	33	36%	7%	21%	+14.1
70	Anthony Melchiori	Kent State	0.0	93	41.4	38.1	24	30%	7%	30%	+3.9
71	Sean Wale	Boise State	−0.1	51	42.2	38.3	24	46%	10%	41%	+7.1
72	A.J. Cole III	NC State	−0.2	61	42.1	39.4	28	46%	10%	34%	+9.7
73	Erich Toth	Indiana	−0.2	58	41.7	36.7	19	32%	9%	21%	−4.9
74	Yannis Routsas	UTSA	−0.2	62	39.5	36.5	19	31%	6%	32%	−12.3
75	Trevor Owens	Middle Tennessee	−0.2	31	36.2	30.9	5	16%	6%	20%	−20.8
76	Austin Rehkow	Idaho	−0.2	49	45.7	39.6	15	31%	7%	26%	+2.5
77	Dalton Schomp	Florida Atlantic	−0.3	45	48.0	43.8	19	43%	5%	24%	+11.4
78	Mattias Ciabatti	South Florida	−0.3	57	43.2	38.9	20	36%	7%	19%	+5.7
79	Dalton Parks	Tulsa	−0.3	63	41.0	38.4	23	37%	8%	47%	+4.4
80	Steve Brosy	Air Force	−0.5	33	37.0	33.5	12	39%	10%	29%	−6.1
81	J. Schroeder	Western Michigan	−0.6	39	42.1	39.4	11	33%	9%	22%	+4.4
82	Joseph Davidson	Bowling Green	−0.7	49	45.6	39.4	14	30%	6%	19%	−3.8
83	Zach Charme	Washington State	−0.8	41	40.0	32.8	11	27%	10%	20%	−16.4
84	Logan Laurent	Massachusetts	−0.8	63	42.2	38.1	16	26%	8%	28%	+2.0
85	Wil Lutz	Georgia State	−0.9	57	43.9	38.6	21	36%	7%	15%	+3.9
86	Jamie Keehn	LSU	−0.9	54	40.9	36.5	17	33%	10%	31%	−7.7
87	Riley Dixon	Syracuse	−1.0	65	43.7	40.3	30	46%	8%	33%	+10.2
88	Nicholas Conte	Virginia	−1.2	52	44.7	38.7	19	36%	10%	21%	+2.5
89	Tanner Blain	San Diego State	−1.2	73	40.6	37.0	29	40%	11%	28%	+5.5
90	Trevor Daniel	Tennessee	−1.3	55	45.4	40.5	24	44%	13%	27%	+15.1
91	Ryan Winslow	Pittsburgh	−1.4	61	41.2	37.8	22	36%	11%	39%	+4.0
92	Tyler Grassman	Buffalo	−1.4	65	41.0	35.7	18	31%	9%	27%	−6.4
93	Sam Foltz	Nebraska	−1.5	53	44.4	38.6	15	28%	9%	15%	−3.6
94	Michael Dickson	Texas	−1.5	77	41.3	39.6	23	31%	8%	43%	+5.7
95	Lumi Kaba	Texas State	−1.5	65	44.3	40.9	18	30%	7%	21%	+8.1
96	Zach Paul	Akron	−1.6	71	41.2	37.3	24	35%	12%	19%	+2.9
97	Cameron Johnston	Ohio State	−1.7	55	44.1	40.8	22	40%	13%	36%	+11.6
98	Kevin Phillips	Auburn	−1.7	52	41.1	37.2	16	31%	10%	44%	−0.9
99	Drew Meyer	Wisconsin	−1.8	63	39.7	36.0	23	37%	13%	24%	−4.4
100	Drew Riggleman	Arizona	−1.8	49	44.8	41.1	21	43%	12%	6%	+9.0
101	Justin Vogel	Miami	−1.9	60	43.0	37.2	21	36%	10%	32%	−4.7
102	Collin Barber	Georgia	−1.9	39	40.3	34.4	13	33%	15%	21%	−3.8
103	Logan Yunker	UNLV	−2.0	67	42.5	38.1	19	29%	11%	38%	−4.3
104	Tyler Newsome	Notre Dame	−2.2	49	44.0	38.7	22	45%	14%	14%	+3.7
105	Alex Starzyk	Temple	−2.2	58	42.2	37.7	20	34%	12%	28%	+4.9
106	Spencer Smith	Memphis	−2.2	37	47.2	43.4	9	24%	11%	30%	+11.6
107	Joey Roth	Rutgers	−2.3	58	40.0	34.8	11	19%	10%	36%	−18.6
108	Jake Hartbarger	Michigan State	−2.5	48	42.1	37.4	22	49%	16%	24%	+1.8
109	Logan Cooke	Mississippi State	−2.7	40	42.5	37.3	15	38%	15%	49%	0.0
110	Ryan Kay	Troy	−2.7	61	41.9	37.0	23	38%	11%	24%	−3.3
111	Michael Carrizosa	San José State	−2.8	43	47.7	41.9	20	47%	14%	19%	+13.3
112	Sam Geraci	Cincinnati	−2.9	38	45.9	39.8	14	36%	13%	20%	+3.0
113	Alex Barta	Navy	−2.9	39	42.3	34.9	11	28%	18%	18%	−6.6
114	Bentlee Critcher	App State	−3.0	47	44.1	39.0	15	32%	13%	22%	+1.1
115	Brandon McKee	South Alabama	−3.1	39	39.8	31.9	7	18%	18%	21%	−11.9
116	Korey Durkee	Washington	−3.2	45	43.0	38.6	17	38%	16%	31%	+3.4
117	Tyler Williams	Marshall	−3.2	68	44.3	40.0	32	47%	13%	22%	+14.3
118	A.J. Hughes	Virginia Tech	−3.3	66	43.0	39.7	22	33%	14%	27%	+6.1
119	Nick Walsh	Kansas State	−3.7	63	41.5	37.0	16	25%	13%	37%	−3.8
120	Ryan Frain	Illinois	−3.7	70	40.2	33.4	12	17%	13%	20%	−22.1
121	JK Scott	Alabama	−3.7	57	44.2	38.4	21	38%	15%	24%	+4.0
122	Drew Kaser	Texas A&M	−3.9	53	48.0	41.3	21	40%	15%	21%	+16.1
123	Tom Hackett	Utah	−4.5	55	47.8	43.6	25	46%	15%	35%	+20.1
124	Alan Luna	UTEP	−5.1	65	44.4	37.6	16	27%	17%	8%	−1.5
125	Will Monday	Duke	−6.0	60	43.6	38.6	29	48%	22%	25%	+9.3
126	Nick O'Toole	West Virginia	−8.4	65	45.7	40.8	28	43%	22%	27%	+17.6

All 2015 College punter rankings

Touchbacks Avoided (STOP Rank) in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2014 2013 2012 2011

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