2016 College Punt Touchback Percentage Leaders

The share of a punter's punts that sailed into the end zone. A touchback costs 20 yards in net average and hands the other team the ball at its own 20, so punters try to avoid them, especially from midfield.

Lowest comes first. A punter who rarely kicks from the opponent's side of the field has few chances to touch back, so ties go to the punter with more of those punts. In 2016, Jonathan Hernandez (0.0%) topped college football punters in punt touchback percentage, ahead of Nick Gasser (0.0%) and Shane Tripucka (0.0%). 122 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had 6.0%.

Final 2016 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	TB %	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	FC %	Points
1	Jonathan Hernandez	South Florida	0.0%	59	41.2	38.5	26	51%	40%	+3.0
2	Nick Gasser	Akron	0.0%	59	37.7	35.1	23	40%	28%	−11.7
3	Shane Tripucka	Texas A&M	0.0%	66	43.2	41.4	25	40%	36%	+10.5
4	Joseph Gedeon	Indiana	0.0%	55	40.0	36.9	25	45%	15%	+1.6
5	Austin Seibert	Oklahoma	0.0%	45	40.8	39.4	22	49%	64%	+5.6
6	Wade Lees	Maryland	1.5%	65	39.9	38.4	21	32%	41%	−2.5
7	Yannis Routsas	UTSA	1.6%	67	41.9	38.1	15	24%	28%	−1.4
8	Justin Vogel	Miami	1.8%	57	44.2	41.1	25	44%	47%	+7.2
9	Derek Adams	Kent State	1.8%	76	40.3	37.4	25	43%	43%	−5.3
10	Alan Luna	UTEP	1.8%	62	41.0	37.5	19	34%	12%	−5.8
11	Matt Flynn	Georgia Southern	1.8%	56	39.1	37.9	11	20%	48%	−10.5
12	Zach Sinor	Oklahoma State	1.9%	52	42.4	40.4	35	66%	38%	+13.0
13	Alex Starzyk	Temple	2.1%	48	39.7	38.2	22	46%	13%	−2.2
14	Anthony Lotti	Wisconsin	2.1%	48	37.5	33.8	25	53%	26%	−9.0
15	Mason King	Louisville	2.1%	47	42.7	39.3	15	32%	51%	+4.8
16	Steve Brosy	Air Force	2.3%	46	41.3	39.2	25	57%	40%	+4.5
17	Austin Kent	UCLA	2.4%	44	38.3	36.5	15	37%	51%	−5.1
18	Blake Cusick	Fresno State	2.6%	78	38.3	36.9	20	25%	46%	−12.1
19	Cole Moos	Kansas	2.9%	73	41.4	38.2	13	19%	28%	−2.1
20	Adam Nunez	TCU	2.9%	69	39.6	37.7	26	38%	36%	−2.6
21	Justin Martin	Miami (OH)	2.9%	33	38.0	35.2	7	21%	20%	−4.8
22	Eric Keena	North Texas	3.0%	69	43.8	39.8	27	40%	18%	+7.7
23	Kaare Vedvik	Marshall	3.1%	70	40.0	37.1	26	41%	39%	+1.1
24	Damon Foncham	Arkansas State	3.1%	65	39.4	38.1	19	30%	27%	−5.8
25	Payton Theisler	New Mexico State	3.1%	65	42.2	34.2	21	32%	16%	−18.5
26	Evan Pantels	UNLV	3.1%	64	41.7	38.3	16	25%	18%	−1.0
27	Ethan Wood	Wyoming	3.2%	65	41.6	39.8	32	52%	18%	+8.3
28	Mitchell Ludwig	Virginia Tech	3.3%	62	38.8	37.2	31	51%	45%	−2.1
29	Logan Laurent	Massachusetts	3.3%	62	41.6	37.4	21	34%	19%	−2.0
30	Mitch Wishnowsky	Utah	3.3%	60	48.0	44.5	37	62%	26%	+25.3
31	Caleb Houston	UCF	3.6%	64	41.8	39.6	21	38%	39%	+4.9
32	Matt Bonadies	Middle Tennessee	3.8%	55	38.4	37.0	16	30%	29%	−7.7
33	Worth Gregory	East Carolina	3.9%	51	42.3	38.1	17	33%	28%	−3.2
34	Drew Galitz	Baylor	4.0%	52	41.3	40.5	15	30%	46%	+3.4
35	Jack Fox	Rice	4.1%	75	40.7	37.7	31	41%	35%	−0.9
36	Logan Tyler	Florida State	4.3%	49	40.6	34.8	13	28%	30%	−7.6
37	Chris Tilbey	USC	4.3%	46	37.8	36.4	19	41%	35%	−3.9
38	Michael Farkas	Ohio	4.4%	69	41.0	38.7	31	46%	40%	+4.5
39	Sterling Hofrichter	Syracuse	4.4%	77	42.7	38.4	21	31%	25%	−2.5
40	Jake Bailey	Stanford	4.4%	45	42.8	39.3	22	49%	14%	+6.0
41	Sam Geraci	Cincinnati	4.5%	66	40.0	37.6	33	49%	50%	+2.8
42	Austin Rehkow	Idaho	4.5%	49	42.6	38.1	26	58%	31%	+3.2
43	Matt Haack	Arizona State	4.5%	66	43.9	42.0	21	32%	35%	+14.5
44	Dayton Balvanz	UL Monroe	4.8%	63	41.0	38.3	25	40%	34%	−0.2
45	Michael Barden	Texas Tech	4.8%	43	38.3	35.1	10	24%	10%	−10.3
46	Jonny Linehan	BYU	4.9%	52	42.7	41.4	22	54%	28%	+10.4
47	Josh Pollack	Arizona	4.9%	48	42.3	36.4	14	34%	8%	−7.4
48	Stone Wilson	Florida International	4.9%	61	37.6	34.2	13	21%	30%	−15.4
49	Logan Cooke	Mississippi State	5.0%	40	39.8	35.0	21	51%	38%	−7.4
50	Brandon Wright	Georgia State	5.0%	61	39.8	34.0	17	28%	17%	−19.6
51	Ian Wheeler	Oregon	5.1%	59	37.8	34.8	22	37%	43%	−10.0
52	Colin Downing	Iowa State	5.2%	58	41.1	38.8	24	41%	34%	+5.3
53	Sean Kelly	South Carolina	5.6%	72	42.5	38.5	30	42%	37%	+1.1
54	Jake Hartbarger	Michigan State	5.6%	54	40.9	38.2	22	41%	27%	+3.5
55	Joseph Davidson	Bowling Green	5.7%	61	45.8	43.5	24	45%	19%	+26.0
56	Tyler Newsome	Notre Dame	5.7%	54	43.5	37.3	18	33%	13%	−3.6
57	Caleb Lightbourn	Nebraska	5.9%	58	39.3	34.6	21	40%	24%	−11.9
58	Rigoberto Sanchez	Hawai'i	6.0%	67	44.6	38.9	24	36%	31%	+6.8
59	Hayden Hunt	Colorado State	6.0%	50	44.3	40.9	27	54%	32%	+14.2
60	Josh Growden	LSU	6.0%	51	41.9	39.8	20	40%	50%	+5.5
61	Toby Baker	Arkansas	6.0%	50	44.6	41.3	21	42%	40%	+16.6
62	Dylan Klumph	California	6.0%	50	44.8	38.5	19	38%	14%	−6.7
63	Bailey Cate	Old Dominion	6.1%	53	37.7	34.9	23	47%	36%	−5.3
64	Marshall Long	Georgia	6.3%	49	38.7	35.2	14	29%	27%	−9.4
65	Arthur Hart	Charlotte	6.3%	68	39.2	36.6	16	25%	24%	−11.7
66	Tanner Blain	San Diego State	6.4%	56	41.9	38.3	27	57%	29%	+7.0
67	Michael Cintron	Rutgers	6.5%	95	37.9	33.2	19	20%	24%	−40.2
68	Aaron Dalton	Utah State	6.5%	62	37.9	34.1	22	35%	36%	−12.6
69	Alex Kinney	Colorado	6.5%	66	41.3	35.0	15	24%	33%	−11.0
70	Bentlee Critcher	App State	6.5%	50	40.9	37.7	21	45%	43%	−0.8
71	Corey Bojorquez	New Mexico	6.5%	46	42.4	37.8	15	33%	19%	−4.1
72	Austin Barnes	Eastern Michigan	6.7%	60	43.7	40.7	33	55%	32%	+17.1
73	Sean Wale	Boise State	6.8%	47	45.2	40.5	19	42%	41%	+7.0
74	Kyle Schmidt	Ball State	6.9%	57	41.3	37.9	21	36%	16%	+4.8
75	Steven Coutts	Louisiana	6.9%	58	44.4	41.0	24	41%	46%	+7.5
76	Jamie Sackville	SMU	7.0%	71	39.6	35.9	23	32%	21%	−4.6
77	Ryan Santoso	Minnesota	7.1%	70	40.6	37.3	27	39%	15%	−3.9
78	Ryan Kay	Troy	7.1%	62	40.8	38.9	28	50%	35%	+6.9
79	Dane Roy	Houston	7.3%	55	40.7	38.7	19	35%	45%	+0.1
80	Spencer Smith	Memphis	7.3%	44	45.2	43.0	11	27%	36%	+13.3
81	Ron Coluzzi	Iowa	7.4%	68	41.3	38.4	26	38%	47%	+4.1
82	Zachary Block	Tulane	7.5%	68	40.8	38.8	23	34%	33%	−1.9
83	Ryan Frain	Illinois	7.5%	53	40.1	35.9	21	40%	20%	−10.2
84	Kevin Phillips	Auburn	7.7%	40	41.4	39.5	14	36%	61%	+4.9
85	Lumi Kaba	Texas State	8.1%	74	41.9	39.2	20	27%	39%	+3.3
86	Mike Knoll	Boston College	8.1%	86	38.3	34.9	16	19%	32%	−21.5
87	Justin Wain	UConn	8.2%	74	40.8	37.4	24	32%	43%	−3.2
88	Kyle DeWeen	Buffalo	8.3%	72	39.8	34.3	22	30%	23%	−15.6
89	Andy Teasdall	Clemson	8.3%	48	37.7	35.1	18	38%	52%	−6.2
90	Jacob Ambrose	Northern Illinois	8.3%	70	39.1	36.4	20	33%	23%	−6.6
91	Hunter Niswander	Northwestern	8.6%	70	41.4	36.4	26	37%	23%	−4.3
92	A.J. Cole III	NC State	8.7%	46	41.6	38.1	13	28%	34%	−3.9
93	Blake Gillikin	Penn State	8.9%	56	42.1	38.4	25	45%	28%	+6.7
94	Grant McKinniss	Kentucky	8.9%	55	39.5	36.0	12	21%	19%	−5.6
95	Corey Fatony	Missouri	9.2%	66	43.8	41.0	28	43%	19%	+15.3
96	Nick Porebski	Oregon State	9.2%	64	41.3	38.9	23	35%	40%	+4.5
97	Dalton Parks	Tulsa	9.4%	64	41.8	37.6	20	31%	22%	−0.9
98	Dalton Schomp	Florida Atlantic	9.5%	68	42.6	39.4	24	38%	32%	+10.0
99	Sam Loy	Vanderbilt	9.5%	64	41.2	37.8	23	36%	21%	−0.9
100	Michael Carrizosa	San José State	9.8%	61	44.3	39.3	27	44%	26%	+5.9
101	Tyler Sarrazin	Southern Miss	10.0%	48	44.6	41.0	17	33%	17%	+11.9
102	Johnny Townsend	Florida	10.2%	60	48.0	42.0	24	41%	25%	+13.4
103	Billy Kinney	West Virginia	10.2%	51	41.4	37.5	15	31%	40%	+1.1
104	Cameron Johnston	Ohio State	10.2%	49	46.2	43.4	23	47%	39%	+18.4
105	Dom Maggio	Wake Forest	10.4%	67	42.6	36.9	26	38%	12%	−10.7
106	Joe Schopper	Purdue	10.7%	56	40.7	37.8	25	45%	25%	+4.7
107	Kenny Allen	Michigan	10.9%	46	42.6	37.6	21	46%	17%	+1.1
108	Nick Walsh	Kansas State	10.9%	46	42.7	39.2	22	48%	16%	+5.0
109	Tom Sheldon	North Carolina	10.9%	46	42.5	40.2	18	39%	42%	+8.0
110	Alex Boy	Nevada	10.9%	51	43.7	38.0	18	39%	30%	+3.4
111	Ryan Winslow	Pittsburgh	10.9%	55	42.6	36.2	14	25%	19%	−5.6
112	Trevor Daniel	Tennessee	11.1%	64	44.7	40.2	28	44%	41%	+10.6
113	Brandon McKee	South Alabama	11.4%	44	44.5	41.4	27	61%	37%	+11.7
114	Ryan Rodwell	Georgia Tech	11.4%	44	43.4	38.4	15	34%	32%	−2.9
115	Jake Collins	Western Kentucky	11.8%	36	42.9	38.8	11	32%	18%	+6.8
116	Tristan Vizcaino	Washington	11.9%	43	39.6	33.6	15	35%	15%	−11.9
117	Jack Sheldon	Central Michigan	11.9%	43	40.3	37.5	16	38%	15%	−3.2
118	Nicholas Conte	Virginia	12.2%	74	44.3	40.5	34	46%	22%	+13.0
119	Gerald Shouse	Louisiana Tech	12.5%	32	43.0	37.2	13	41%	16%	+1.5
120	Michael Dickson	Texas	14.3%	65	47.4	43.4	30	48%	29%	+23.9
121	Nick Ellis	Toledo	14.6%	47	43.1	37.9	15	37%	19%	+5.6
122	JK Scott	Alabama	15.6%	46	47.7	40.3	16	36%	24%	+6.7

All 2016 College punter rankings

Punt Touchback Percentage in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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