2016 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 2016, Joseph Gedeon (+4.1) led college football punters in touchbacks avoided (STOP rank), ahead of Jonathan Hernandez (+4.0) and Nick Gasser (+3.8). 122 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had +0.1.

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

Rk	Player	Team	STOP	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Joseph Gedeon	Indiana	+4.1	55	40.0	36.9	25	45%	0%	15%	+1.6
2	Jonathan Hernandez	South Florida	+4.0	59	41.2	38.5	26	51%	0%	40%	+3.0
3	Nick Gasser	Akron	+3.8	59	37.7	35.1	23	40%	0%	28%	−11.7
4	Anthony Lotti	Wisconsin	+3.7	48	37.5	33.8	25	53%	2%	26%	−9.0
5	Shane Tripucka	Texas A&M	+3.3	66	43.2	41.4	25	40%	0%	36%	+10.5
6	Zach Sinor	Oklahoma State	+3.1	52	42.4	40.4	35	66%	2%	38%	+13.0
7	Austin Seibert	Oklahoma	+3.1	45	40.8	39.4	22	49%	0%	64%	+5.6
8	Adam Nunez	TCU	+2.7	69	39.6	37.7	26	38%	3%	36%	−2.6
9	Mitchell Ludwig	Virginia Tech	+2.7	62	38.8	37.2	31	51%	3%	45%	−2.1
10	Ethan Wood	Wyoming	+2.6	65	41.6	39.8	32	52%	3%	18%	+8.3
11	Alex Starzyk	Temple	+2.4	48	39.7	38.2	22	46%	2%	13%	−2.2
12	Michael Farkas	Ohio	+2.4	69	41.0	38.7	31	46%	4%	40%	+4.5
13	Sam Geraci	Cincinnati	+2.3	66	40.0	37.6	33	49%	5%	50%	+2.8
14	Kaare Vedvik	Marshall	+2.3	70	40.0	37.1	26	41%	3%	39%	+1.1
15	Steve Brosy	Air Force	+2.1	46	41.3	39.2	25	57%	2%	40%	+4.5
16	Justin Vogel	Miami	+2.0	57	44.2	41.1	25	44%	2%	47%	+7.2
17	Wade Lees	Maryland	+2.0	65	39.9	38.4	21	32%	2%	41%	−2.5
18	Derek Adams	Kent State	+1.9	76	40.3	37.4	25	43%	2%	43%	−5.3
19	Chris Tilbey	USC	+1.8	46	37.8	36.4	19	41%	4%	35%	−3.9
20	Austin Rehkow	Idaho	+1.8	49	42.6	38.1	26	58%	5%	31%	+3.2
21	Yannis Routsas	UTSA	+1.7	67	41.9	38.1	15	24%	2%	28%	−1.4
22	Jake Bailey	Stanford	+1.6	45	42.8	39.3	22	49%	4%	14%	+6.0
23	Austin Kent	UCLA	+1.6	44	38.3	36.5	15	37%	2%	51%	−5.1
24	Logan Cooke	Mississippi State	+1.6	40	39.8	35.0	21	51%	5%	38%	−7.4
25	Mitch Wishnowsky	Utah	+1.5	60	48.0	44.5	37	62%	3%	26%	+25.3
26	Mason King	Louisville	+1.5	47	42.7	39.3	15	32%	2%	51%	+4.8
27	Dayton Balvanz	UL Monroe	+1.4	63	41.0	38.3	25	40%	5%	34%	−0.2
28	Alan Luna	UTEP	+1.4	62	41.0	37.5	19	34%	2%	12%	−5.8
29	Jonny Linehan	BYU	+1.3	52	42.7	41.4	22	54%	5%	28%	+10.4
30	Jack Fox	Rice	+1.2	75	40.7	37.7	31	41%	4%	35%	−0.9
31	Blake Cusick	Fresno State	+1.1	78	38.3	36.9	20	25%	3%	46%	−12.1
32	Payton Theisler	New Mexico State	+1.1	65	42.2	34.2	21	32%	3%	16%	−18.5
33	Logan Laurent	Massachusetts	+1.1	62	41.6	37.4	21	34%	3%	19%	−2.0
34	Eric Keena	North Texas	+1.0	69	43.8	39.8	27	40%	3%	18%	+7.7
35	Caleb Houston	UCF	+0.9	64	41.8	39.6	21	38%	4%	39%	+4.9
36	Damon Foncham	Arkansas State	+0.9	65	39.4	38.1	19	30%	3%	27%	−5.8
37	Matt Bonadies	Middle Tennessee	+0.7	55	38.4	37.0	16	30%	4%	29%	−7.7
38	Marshall Long	Georgia	+0.7	49	38.7	35.2	14	29%	6%	27%	−9.4
39	Josh Growden	LSU	+0.6	51	41.9	39.8	20	40%	6%	50%	+5.5
40	Jake Hartbarger	Michigan State	+0.6	54	40.9	38.2	22	41%	6%	27%	+3.5
41	Aaron Dalton	Utah State	+0.6	62	37.9	34.1	22	35%	6%	36%	−12.6
42	Bailey Cate	Old Dominion	+0.6	53	37.7	34.9	23	47%	6%	36%	−5.3
43	Colin Downing	Iowa State	+0.5	58	41.1	38.8	24	41%	5%	34%	+5.3
44	Caleb Lightbourn	Nebraska	+0.5	58	39.3	34.6	21	40%	6%	24%	−11.9
45	Evan Pantels	UNLV	+0.5	64	41.7	38.3	16	25%	3%	18%	−1.0
46	Cole Moos	Kansas	+0.5	73	41.4	38.2	13	19%	3%	28%	−2.1
47	Tyler Newsome	Notre Dame	+0.4	54	43.5	37.3	18	33%	6%	13%	−3.6
48	Matt Flynn	Georgia Southern	+0.4	56	39.1	37.9	11	20%	2%	48%	−10.5
49	Andy Teasdall	Clemson	+0.4	48	37.7	35.1	18	38%	8%	52%	−6.2
50	Sean Kelly	South Carolina	+0.4	72	42.5	38.5	30	42%	6%	37%	+1.1
51	Logan Tyler	Florida State	+0.4	49	40.6	34.8	13	28%	4%	30%	−7.6
52	Arthur Hart	Charlotte	+0.3	68	39.2	36.6	16	25%	6%	24%	−11.7
53	Ian Wheeler	Oregon	+0.3	59	37.8	34.8	22	37%	5%	43%	−10.0
54	Josh Pollack	Arizona	+0.3	48	42.3	36.4	14	34%	5%	8%	−7.4
55	Worth Gregory	East Carolina	+0.3	51	42.3	38.1	17	33%	4%	28%	−3.2
56	Michael Barden	Texas Tech	+0.3	43	38.3	35.1	10	24%	5%	10%	−10.3
57	Sterling Hofrichter	Syracuse	+0.3	77	42.7	38.4	21	31%	4%	25%	−2.5
58	Toby Baker	Arkansas	+0.2	50	44.6	41.3	21	42%	6%	40%	+16.6
59	Bentlee Critcher	App State	+0.2	50	40.9	37.7	21	45%	7%	43%	−0.8
60	Stone Wilson	Florida International	+0.2	61	37.6	34.2	13	21%	5%	30%	−15.4
61	Justin Martin	Miami (OH)	+0.1	33	38.0	35.2	7	21%	3%	20%	−4.8
62	Hayden Hunt	Colorado State	+0.1	50	44.3	40.9	27	54%	6%	32%	+14.2
63	Ryan Santoso	Minnesota	+0.1	70	40.6	37.3	27	39%	7%	15%	−3.9
64	Joseph Davidson	Bowling Green	0.0	61	45.8	43.5	24	45%	6%	19%	+26.0
65	Brandon Wright	Georgia State	−0.1	61	39.8	34.0	17	28%	5%	17%	−19.6
66	Tanner Blain	San Diego State	−0.1	56	41.9	38.3	27	57%	6%	29%	+7.0
67	Drew Galitz	Baylor	−0.2	52	41.3	40.5	15	30%	4%	46%	+3.4
68	Ryan Frain	Illinois	−0.2	53	40.1	35.9	21	40%	8%	20%	−10.2
69	Jamie Sackville	SMU	−0.2	71	39.6	35.9	23	32%	7%	21%	−4.6
70	Dylan Klumph	California	−0.3	50	44.8	38.5	19	38%	6%	14%	−6.7
71	Kyle Schmidt	Ball State	−0.3	57	41.3	37.9	21	36%	7%	16%	+4.8
72	Dane Roy	Houston	−0.4	55	40.7	38.7	19	35%	7%	45%	+0.1
73	Austin Barnes	Eastern Michigan	−0.4	60	43.7	40.7	33	55%	7%	32%	+17.1
74	Matt Haack	Arizona State	−0.5	66	43.9	42.0	21	32%	5%	35%	+14.5
75	Ryan Kay	Troy	−0.6	62	40.8	38.9	28	50%	7%	35%	+6.9
76	Ron Coluzzi	Iowa	−0.8	68	41.3	38.4	26	38%	7%	47%	+4.1
77	Michael Cintron	Rutgers	−0.8	95	37.9	33.2	19	20%	6%	24%	−40.2
78	Corey Bojorquez	New Mexico	−0.9	46	42.4	37.8	15	33%	7%	19%	−4.1
79	Kyle DeWeen	Buffalo	−1.0	72	39.8	34.3	22	30%	8%	23%	−15.6
80	Kenny Allen	Michigan	−1.0	46	42.6	37.6	21	46%	11%	17%	+1.1
81	Sean Wale	Boise State	−1.0	47	45.2	40.5	19	42%	7%	41%	+7.0
82	Rigoberto Sanchez	Hawai'i	−1.0	67	44.6	38.9	24	36%	6%	31%	+6.8
83	Alex Kinney	Colorado	−1.1	66	41.3	35.0	15	24%	6%	33%	−11.0
84	Kevin Phillips	Auburn	−1.1	40	41.4	39.5	14	36%	8%	61%	+4.9
85	Billy Kinney	West Virginia	−1.2	51	41.4	37.5	15	31%	10%	40%	+1.1
86	Blake Gillikin	Penn State	−1.3	56	42.1	38.4	25	45%	9%	28%	+6.7
87	Joe Schopper	Purdue	−1.3	56	40.7	37.8	25	45%	11%	25%	+4.7
88	Zachary Block	Tulane	−1.3	68	40.8	38.8	23	34%	7%	33%	−1.9
89	Brandon McKee	South Alabama	−1.5	44	44.5	41.4	27	61%	11%	37%	+11.7
90	A.J. Cole III	NC State	−1.5	46	41.6	38.1	13	28%	9%	34%	−3.9
91	Corey Fatony	Missouri	−1.6	66	43.8	41.0	28	43%	9%	19%	+15.3
92	Jacob Ambrose	Northern Illinois	−1.6	70	39.1	36.4	20	33%	8%	23%	−6.6
93	Gerald Shouse	Louisiana Tech	−1.7	32	43.0	37.2	13	41%	13%	16%	+1.5
94	Tristan Vizcaino	Washington	−1.8	43	39.6	33.6	15	35%	12%	15%	−11.9
95	Steven Coutts	Louisiana	−1.8	58	44.4	41.0	24	41%	7%	46%	+7.5
96	Nick Walsh	Kansas State	−1.8	46	42.7	39.2	22	48%	11%	16%	+5.0
97	Sam Loy	Vanderbilt	−1.8	64	41.2	37.8	23	36%	10%	21%	−0.9
98	Tyler Sarrazin	Southern Miss	−1.9	48	44.6	41.0	17	33%	10%	17%	+11.9
99	Spencer Smith	Memphis	−1.9	44	45.2	43.0	11	27%	7%	36%	+13.3
100	Justin Wain	UConn	−1.9	74	40.8	37.4	24	32%	8%	43%	−3.2
101	Hunter Niswander	Northwestern	−1.9	70	41.4	36.4	26	37%	9%	23%	−4.3
102	Jake Collins	Western Kentucky	−2.0	36	42.9	38.8	11	32%	12%	18%	+6.8
103	Nick Porebski	Oregon State	−2.1	64	41.3	38.9	23	35%	9%	40%	+4.5
104	Jack Sheldon	Central Michigan	−2.2	43	40.3	37.5	16	38%	12%	15%	−3.2
105	Cameron Johnston	Ohio State	−2.2	49	46.2	43.4	23	47%	10%	39%	+18.4
106	Tom Sheldon	North Carolina	−2.2	46	42.5	40.2	18	39%	11%	42%	+8.0
107	Dalton Schomp	Florida Atlantic	−2.2	68	42.6	39.4	24	38%	10%	32%	+10.0
108	Ryan Rodwell	Georgia Tech	−2.2	44	43.4	38.4	15	34%	11%	32%	−2.9
109	Michael Carrizosa	San José State	−2.3	61	44.3	39.3	27	44%	10%	26%	+5.9
110	Dalton Parks	Tulsa	−2.3	64	41.8	37.6	20	31%	9%	22%	−0.9
111	Lumi Kaba	Texas State	−2.4	74	41.9	39.2	20	27%	8%	39%	+3.3
112	Mike Knoll	Boston College	−2.4	86	38.3	34.9	16	19%	8%	32%	−21.5
113	Dom Maggio	Wake Forest	−2.6	67	42.6	36.9	26	38%	10%	12%	−10.7
114	Alex Boy	Nevada	−2.7	51	43.7	38.0	18	39%	11%	30%	+3.4
115	Grant McKinniss	Kentucky	−2.7	55	39.5	36.0	12	21%	9%	19%	−5.6
116	Johnny Townsend	Florida	−3.1	60	48.0	42.0	24	41%	10%	25%	+13.4
117	Trevor Daniel	Tennessee	−3.1	64	44.7	40.2	28	44%	11%	41%	+10.6
118	Ryan Winslow	Pittsburgh	−3.1	55	42.6	36.2	14	25%	11%	19%	−5.6
119	Nick Ellis	Toledo	−3.2	47	43.1	37.9	15	37%	15%	19%	+5.6
120	JK Scott	Alabama	−3.9	46	47.7	40.3	16	36%	16%	24%	+6.7
121	Nicholas Conte	Virginia	−4.1	74	44.3	40.5	34	46%	12%	22%	+13.0
122	Michael Dickson	Texas	−5.0	65	47.4	43.4	30	48%	14%	29%	+23.9

All 2016 College punter rankings

Touchbacks Avoided (STOP Rank) in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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