2017 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 2017, Cody Grace (+3.9) led college football punters in touchbacks avoided (STOP rank), ahead of Mac Loudermilk (+3.8) and Will Gleeson (+3.0). 125 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had +0.1.

Final 2017 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	STOP	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Cody Grace	Arkansas State	+3.9	44	40.9	40.8	25	57%	0%	49%	+8.0
2	Mac Loudermilk	UCF	+3.8	41	39.5	38.3	24	59%	0%	54%	+4.7
3	Will Gleeson	Ole Miss	+3.0	51	41.5	40.2	23	45%	2%	46%	+7.1
4	James Smith	Cincinnati	+2.9	64	42.0	41.4	25	39%	0%	45%	+10.1
5	Michael Sleep-Dalton	Arizona State	+2.7	59	39.8	36.3	18	30%	2%	21%	−10.3
6	Anthony Lotti	Wisconsin	+2.7	51	40.3	37.4	25	48%	4%	28%	+2.6
7	Mike Knoll	Boston College	+2.6	73	40.2	37.4	36	49%	5%	26%	−0.8
8	Blake Hayes	Illinois	+2.6	77	42.0	40.2	31	40%	3%	19%	+8.3
9	Adam Nunez	TCU	+2.4	61	39.3	36.5	31	50%	6%	40%	−2.4
10	Zach Feagles	Miami	+2.4	68	38.1	37.1	27	40%	4%	49%	−3.9
11	Stan Gaudion	Hawai'i	+2.2	58	42.1	38.8	20	34%	2%	25%	−9.8
12	Nick Porebski	Oregon State	+2.2	49	38.5	37.5	12	24%	2%	37%	−7.9
13	Tim Zaleski	Wyoming	+2.1	81	39.4	37.4	28	35%	5%	30%	−0.6
14	Stefan Flintoft	UCLA	+2.1	52	42.8	38.8	18	35%	2%	41%	−0.3
15	Joe Schopper	Purdue	+2.1	67	40.2	37.3	28	44%	5%	49%	+0.4
16	Alex Kinney	Colorado	+1.9	56	43.8	41.1	28	50%	4%	35%	+10.4
17	Nick Gasser	Akron	+1.8	78	41.9	36.8	26	33%	4%	31%	−14.2
18	Joseph Davidson	Bowling Green	+1.8	60	44.0	42.4	27	47%	3%	25%	+16.9
19	Colin Downing	Iowa State	+1.8	62	40.3	38.7	27	46%	5%	38%	+3.8
20	Colten Rastetter	Iowa	+1.7	49	38.4	37.5	10	20%	0%	14%	−10.0
21	Charlie Scott	Air Force	+1.7	41	42.1	39.1	14	34%	0%	24%	−1.8
22	Jonny Linehan	BYU	+1.7	59	42.9	41.9	28	47%	3%	26%	+11.9
23	Pressley Harvin III	Georgia Tech	+1.6	50	44.1	39.7	21	42%	2%	27%	+5.3
24	Wade Lees	Maryland	+1.5	64	39.2	37.4	17	27%	3%	48%	−12.7
25	Will Spiers	Clemson	+1.5	60	40.8	36.7	28	47%	7%	38%	−1.6
26	Brandon Heicklen	San Diego State	+1.5	57	38.4	34.5	19	33%	5%	42%	−12.7
27	Haydon Whitehead	Indiana	+1.5	85	40.7	38.0	29	35%	6%	34%	+2.4
28	Brett Graham	UConn	+1.4	63	38.8	37.3	23	37%	3%	31%	−2.1
29	Michael Farkas	Ohio	+1.3	54	40.4	37.9	17	35%	4%	36%	+2.4
30	Ryan Rickel	Florida Atlantic	+1.3	46	42.6	41.0	16	36%	2%	42%	+8.0
31	Blake Gillikin	Penn State	+1.3	50	43.2	40.0	27	53%	6%	29%	+9.6
32	Cole Moos	Kansas	+1.3	83	39.6	35.3	24	29%	4%	26%	−29.9
33	Connor Martin	Baylor	+1.2	39	40.3	39.1	12	31%	3%	24%	−2.0
34	Reid Budrovich	USC	+1.2	49	42.5	37.5	19	38%	6%	31%	−2.6
35	Joel Whitford	Washington	+1.1	37	41.4	39.2	15	41%	5%	27%	+1.4
36	Bailey Flint	Toledo	+1.1	39	37.1	35.6	17	44%	8%	41%	−1.8
37	Kyle DeWeen	Buffalo	+1.0	56	40.6	37.9	21	38%	5%	32%	−1.0
38	Derrick Mitchell	Western Michigan	+1.0	65	42.4	39.6	32	49%	6%	11%	+5.4
39	Brady Farlow	Louisiana Tech	+0.9	36	37.6	35.5	7	19%	3%	34%	−10.6
40	Jake Bailey	Stanford	+0.8	53	45.1	42.5	25	48%	6%	35%	+14.4
41	Quinn Skillin	Boise State	+0.8	36	40.6	38.2	18	47%	8%	35%	+7.4
42	Zac Everett	Southern Miss	+0.7	60	40.5	38.6	21	35%	5%	26%	+2.6
43	Cameron Nizialek	Georgia	+0.7	49	44.5	41.8	23	47%	6%	51%	+9.3
44	A.J. Cole III	NC State	+0.7	53	43.8	37.9	23	43%	8%	26%	−5.8
45	Owen White	Navy	+0.7	39	41.2	38.6	13	38%	6%	24%	+1.1
46	Quinton Conaway	Nevada	+0.7	48	39.6	36.6	9	18%	2%	53%	−12.6
47	Bailey Cate	Old Dominion	+0.7	66	40.5	38.0	22	33%	5%	35%	−5.8
48	Jamie Sackville	SMU	+0.7	53	40.8	38.6	21	40%	6%	16%	+1.1
49	Sam Geraci	Louisiana	+0.6	64	40.7	39.2	24	42%	7%	45%	+5.3
50	Hunter Niswander	Northwestern	+0.6	63	42.9	39.9	21	33%	5%	28%	+5.5
51	Yannis Routsas	UTSA	+0.6	47	41.6	39.6	29	62%	9%	27%	+6.4
52	Tyler Sumpter	Troy	+0.6	53	40.2	36.0	16	32%	6%	23%	−12.9
53	JK Scott	Alabama	+0.5	42	43.4	40.9	24	56%	7%	55%	+12.9
54	Logan Tyler	Florida State	+0.4	65	43.2	39.1	21	34%	6%	29%	+3.4
55	Blake Johnson	Arkansas	+0.4	59	38.6	37.6	18	31%	5%	40%	−4.1
56	Evan Rabon	Coastal Carolina	+0.4	56	43.3	39.9	20	36%	5%	33%	+5.4
57	Zach Von Rosenberg	LSU	+0.4	33	43.3	42.1	12	36%	3%	45%	+7.6
58	Nathan Snyder	Ball State	+0.4	50	37.3	31.6	14	29%	6%	25%	−32.0
59	Billy Kinney	West Virginia	+0.4	61	40.0	35.9	20	33%	7%	43%	−12.2
60	Adam Stack	Oregon	+0.4	54	38.0	35.7	18	33%	6%	37%	−10.0
61	Matt Panton	Kentucky	+0.3	57	42.7	40.5	20	35%	5%	27%	+4.8
62	Tyler Newsome	Notre Dame	+0.2	59	43.5	37.9	16	27%	7%	29%	−1.7
63	Dominic Panazzolo	Texas Tech	+0.1	55	42.0	39.6	14	25%	4%	43%	+0.7
64	Drue Chrisman	Ohio State	0.0	44	44.0	41.4	18	41%	7%	40%	+7.6
65	Jake Collins	Western Kentucky	0.0	52	39.9	36.8	19	37%	8%	20%	−3.4
66	Blake Patterson	TCU	−0.1	30	41.3	39.6	10	33%	7%	31%	+0.6
67	Kyle Kramer	Miami (OH)	−0.1	64	40.5	38.8	28	44%	8%	30%	−5.4
68	Corliss Waitman	South Alabama	−0.1	70	45.2	42.5	28	40%	6%	40%	+13.0
69	Brad Robbins	Michigan	−0.1	58	40.9	36.9	24	42%	7%	35%	−5.6
70	Sam Loy	Vanderbilt	−0.2	64	40.2	36.5	17	27%	6%	27%	−11.5
71	Mitch Wishnowsky	Utah	−0.2	46	44.2	42.6	18	39%	7%	35%	+11.7
72	Mason King	Louisville	−0.3	39	44.1	39.9	8	20%	5%	24%	+0.6
73	Payton Theisler	New Mexico State	−0.3	69	41.5	38.5	18	26%	6%	19%	−1.3
74	Tom Sheldon	North Carolina	−0.3	45	45.8	42.5	15	34%	5%	36%	+6.4
75	Logan Cooke	Mississippi State	−0.3	48	42.8	40.5	21	44%	8%	39%	+8.2
76	Marcus Ripley	Texas State	−0.3	81	42.4	38.5	27	38%	7%	23%	+0.3
77	Aidan Marshall	Auburn	−0.3	38	39.4	34.1	9	24%	8%	43%	−5.2
78	Caleb Lightbourn	Nebraska	−0.4	59	42.1	39.7	24	41%	7%	32%	+3.9
79	Austin Seibert	Oklahoma	−0.4	36	42.6	37.8	11	31%	8%	40%	−4.5
80	Kyle Sweet	Washington State	−0.5	32	38.4	36.6	6	19%	6%	16%	−9.4
81	Dylan Klumph	California	−0.5	46	43.0	38.5	12	26%	7%	20%	−0.2
82	Jake Julien	Eastern Michigan	−0.6	33	42.3	39.6	9	26%	6%	3%	+1.3
83	Corey Fatony	Missouri	−0.7	50	44.5	41.8	23	46%	8%	31%	+13.7
84	Sterling Hofrichter	Syracuse	−0.7	57	43.2	41.4	22	39%	7%	46%	+8.4
85	Zachary Block	Tulane	−0.7	52	39.6	36.6	15	33%	9%	29%	−2.3
86	Dane Roy	Houston	−0.8	53	41.6	38.8	23	44%	10%	40%	+2.2
87	Michael Carrizosa	San José State	−0.8	73	45.6	41.3	31	42%	7%	28%	+10.0
88	Xavier Subotsch	App State	−0.8	52	39.8	35.9	19	37%	10%	35%	−6.2
89	Trevor Daniel	Tennessee	−1.0	70	47.5	43.3	31	44%	7%	21%	+20.6
90	Oscar Bradburn	Virginia Tech	−1.1	63	42.5	40.1	27	43%	10%	50%	+11.2
91	Johnny Townsend	Florida	−1.3	64	47.5	41.5	29	45%	8%	18%	+11.2
92	Harrison Heim	UL Monroe	−1.3	58	41.9	37.4	23	40%	9%	26%	−1.0
93	Joseph Charlton	South Carolina	−1.4	47	44.3	41.1	11	23%	9%	24%	+7.0
94	Thomas Bennett	Tulsa	−1.6	61	42.3	36.8	17	28%	8%	14%	−8.9
95	Matt Ference	Northern Illinois	−1.7	78	41.2	38.1	31	40%	10%	21%	−0.8
96	Nick Walsh	Kansas State	−1.8	54	43.7	40.0	23	43%	11%	38%	+10.2
97	Matt Bonadies	Middle Tennessee	−1.8	53	39.2	37.5	12	23%	9%	41%	−9.6
98	Joel Dixon	UAB	−1.8	60	41.3	35.7	14	23%	8%	25%	−9.7
99	Logan Laurent	Massachusetts	−1.9	65	42.6	34.3	19	30%	9%	14%	−15.4
100	Ryan Winslow	Pittsburgh	−2.1	57	44.5	38.7	20	35%	9%	40%	−5.2
101	Alex Starzyk	Temple	−2.1	52	40.3	34.9	21	39%	13%	26%	−4.1
102	Shane Tripucka	Texas A&M	−2.1	76	46.1	43.3	26	34%	8%	43%	+25.4
103	Dom Maggio	Wake Forest	−2.2	64	43.9	38.2	21	33%	9%	27%	−2.3
104	Stone Wilson	Florida International	−2.3	50	41.8	37.9	20	40%	12%	33%	−2.3
105	Alan Luna	UTEP	−2.4	79	44.1	39.3	28	36%	9%	23%	+3.1
106	Kaare Vedvik	Marshall	−2.5	53	44.4	40.8	24	45%	13%	27%	+14.4
107	Matt Flynn	Georgia Southern	−2.7	66	40.2	36.6	15	23%	9%	35%	−11.8
108	Zach Sinor	Oklahoma State	−2.7	36	43.0	38.1	8	22%	14%	39%	0.0
109	Lester Coleman	Virginia	−2.8	71	44.0	38.1	31	43%	11%	20%	−7.8
110	Michael Dickson	Texas	−2.9	73	48.4	44.8	35	49%	11%	39%	+36.8
111	Austin Barnes	East Carolina	−3.0	50	44.0	39.4	17	35%	12%	29%	+0.8
112	Cade Coffey	Idaho	−3.1	66	44.6	36.7	27	41%	11%	13%	−12.2
113	Jack Fox	Rice	−3.1	57	44.2	37.2	17	30%	13%	31%	−5.0
114	Aaron Dalton	Utah State	−3.2	67	41.7	38.5	21	31%	12%	38%	+2.1
115	Ryan Stonehouse	Colorado State	−3.3	38	46.8	41.3	19	49%	16%	11%	+5.0
116	Jack Sheldon	Central Michigan	−3.4	72	43.6	38.5	26	36%	10%	7%	+1.7
117	Blake Cusick	Fresno State	−4.0	64	42.4	37.2	20	32%	13%	35%	+1.0
118	Jake Hartbarger	Michigan State	−4.2	67	42.0	38.3	29	43%	16%	30%	+7.2
119	Ryan Santoso	Minnesota	−4.3	66	43.0	38.5	19	29%	14%	29%	+6.1
120	Derek Adams	Kent State	−4.8	79	43.6	40.5	22	28%	11%	29%	+8.8
121	Arthur Hart	Charlotte	−4.9	85	43.5	39.5	24	28%	12%	36%	+2.4
122	Austin Parker	Duke	−5.1	61	42.0	36.6	11	18%	15%	26%	−2.9
123	Jonathan Hernandez	South Florida	−5.7	58	43.2	36.9	14	23%	17%	29%	−2.9
124	Ryan Anderson	Rutgers	−5.9	79	44.4	38.9	21	27%	13%	13%	+0.3
125	Corey Bojorquez	New Mexico	−7.3	67	47.3	42.1	33	49%	18%	31%	+17.3

All 2017 College punter rankings

Touchbacks Avoided (STOP Rank) in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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