2018 College Return Yards Allowed per Punt Leaders

Total return yards allowed divided by every punt that was not blocked, so a fair catch or an out-of-bounds punt counts as zero. College punts whose play text records no outcome are left out. It is the fairest single measure of how much a returner gets to work with.

Lowest comes first. Coverage teams share the credit. In 2018, Cody Grace (-0.1) topped college football punters in return yards allowed per punt, ahead of Magill Bauerle (0.0) and Joe Doyle (0.1). 123 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had 1.8.

Final 2018 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Ret yds/punt	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Cody Grace	Arkansas State	-0.1	58	40.3	40.0	22	38%	2%	52%	+4.2
2	Magill Bauerle	Georgia Southern	0.0	44	38.9	37.5	16	30%	4%	40%	+0.3
3	Joe Doyle	Tennessee	0.1	66	41.0	39.1	25	38%	9%	38%	+7.1
4	Lester Coleman	Virginia	0.2	47	42.1	39.7	20	43%	11%	24%	+7.9
5	Grant Tinnerman	Bowling Green	0.2	35	37.0	36.8	6	17%	0%	14%	−4.4
6	Jacob Herbers	Minnesota	0.3	51	41.2	41.0	20	39%	0%	51%	+7.4
7	Matt Naranjo	Bowling Green	0.3	31	41.2	40.3	9	29%	3%	13%	+2.3
8	Zac Everett	Southern Miss	0.4	33	38.8	37.3	14	35%	8%	22%	−0.1
9	Blake Cusick	Fresno State	0.4	62	42.1	40.5	32	52%	6%	29%	+11.7
10	Bailey Cate	Old Dominion	0.4	53	40.2	37.7	19	35%	9%	43%	+2.5
11	Dominic Panazzolo	Texas Tech	0.5	52	42.1	40.1	23	44%	8%	34%	+9.8
12	Arryn Siposs	Auburn	0.5	47	44.1	42.2	20	36%	7%	42%	+14.3
13	Adam Nunez	TCU	0.5	35	38.6	35.9	16	46%	11%	23%	+0.3
14	Isaac Armstrong	Nebraska	0.6	32	43.6	39.9	9	27%	9%	23%	+3.9
15	Alex Rinella	Western Kentucky	0.6	63	38.2	35.2	25	37%	6%	45%	−13.5
16	Tim Zaleski	Wyoming	0.7	36	38.8	36.4	12	33%	8%	20%	−0.1
17	Drue Chrisman	Ohio State	0.7	53	43.3	42.6	27	53%	2%	41%	+12.3
18	Corey Dunn	Iowa State	0.7	50	40.0	37.9	20	40%	2%	25%	−0.9
19	Jake Bailey	Stanford	0.7	59	44.0	39.9	26	44%	17%	30%	+17.1
20	Will Spiers	Clemson	0.7	55	39.6	36.9	15	28%	7%	39%	−7.5
21	Jamie Sackville	SMU	0.7	67	39.7	37.9	22	33%	5%	30%	+0.2
22	Blake Maimone	Oregon	0.8	39	42.7	40.5	17	44%	8%	39%	+6.6
23	Bailey Flint	Toledo	0.8	56	40.5	38.5	25	44%	4%	35%	−1.1
24	Rhett Almond	BYU	0.8	54	40.3	39.4	20	38%	2%	24%	+2.2
25	Hunter Lent	North Carolina	0.8	50	39.9	39.1	17	34%	0%	27%	+3.3
26	Matt Ference	Northern Illinois	0.9	83	40.1	37.6	35	42%	8%	23%	+3.5
27	Mitch Wishnowsky	Utah	0.9	54	45.1	41.3	21	38%	7%	39%	+10.8
28	Yannis Routsas	UTSA	1.0	75	43.0	39.9	30	39%	5%	22%	+5.7
29	Nick Mihalic	Western Michigan	1.0	50	37.9	34.3	11	22%	10%	33%	−16.4
30	A.J. Cole III	NC State	1.0	40	41.3	38.8	20	47%	9%	34%	−0.3
31	Tucker Day	Mississippi State	1.0	41	38.2	37.0	14	34%	0%	44%	−6.5
32	Quinton Conaway	Nevada	1.0	53	43.2	41.1	17	32%	6%	15%	+2.6
33	Sebastian Riella	Florida Atlantic	1.1	38	38.1	34.8	5	14%	0%	31%	−14.2
34	Wade Lees	Maryland	1.1	67	40.9	39.2	29	43%	3%	41%	+5.6
35	Taylor Hintze	Utah State	1.1	40	39.6	38.5	9	23%	5%	30%	+0.6
36	Alvin Kenworthy	North Texas	1.2	50	42.4	38.5	22	43%	10%	41%	+0.4
37	Jack Fox	Rice	1.2	80	45.5	40.6	30	37%	16%	23%	+11.1
38	Haydon Whitehead	Indiana	1.2	51	40.0	37.0	19	37%	6%	40%	+0.4
39	Zach Von Rosenberg	LSU	1.2	50	45.6	44.0	17	35%	2%	49%	+11.1
40	Charles Ouverson	Coastal Carolina	1.3	49	43.2	40.3	13	27%	8%	36%	+3.6
41	Patrick LeCorre	Ball State	1.3	39	39.7	37.5	12	31%	5%	25%	−1.3
42	Davis Price	Colorado	1.3	48	38.4	37.2	22	47%	0%	48%	−3.5
43	Clayton Howell	App State	1.4	46	43.2	41.5	14	30%	2%	42%	+4.1
44	Joseph Charlton	South Carolina	1.4	43	44.8	41.8	16	36%	5%	44%	+9.9
45	Nick Gasser	Akron	1.4	75	39.4	36.9	20	27%	5%	14%	−13.0
46	Kyle Thompson	Kansas	1.4	69	43.3	39.4	26	37%	10%	17%	+5.2
47	Mitchell Crawford	UTEP	1.4	72	39.8	37.3	20	28%	4%	31%	−2.4
48	Tyler Sumpter	Troy	1.5	51	44.8	41.9	15	29%	8%	30%	+14.1
49	Kyle Greenwell	UAB	1.5	56	40.3	37.7	17	30%	7%	43%	−1.0
50	Matt Bonadies	Middle Tennessee	1.5	52	41.5	38.8	23	46%	6%	40%	+2.9
51	Colten Rastetter	Iowa	1.6	46	39.6	36.5	20	43%	4%	9%	−7.0
52	Joe Schopper	Purdue	1.6	56	43.1	40.7	24	44%	4%	46%	+9.1
53	Dane Roy	Houston	1.6	55	42.3	40.4	24	44%	2%	42%	+5.2
54	James Smith	Cincinnati	1.6	54	47.0	45.1	26	48%	2%	35%	+26.0
55	Davan Dyer	Louisiana Tech	1.6	58	41.1	38.2	22	38%	7%	33%	−2.3
56	Adam Korsak	Rutgers	1.6	78	42.7	40.5	24	31%	4%	19%	+7.2
57	Reid Bauer	Arkansas	1.6	56	38.9	36.9	13	23%	2%	39%	−6.7
58	Kyle Kramer	Miami (OH)	1.7	65	41.9	38.5	36	55%	9%	32%	+4.0
59	Evan Finegan	Buffalo	1.7	50	42.1	37.4	13	25%	8%	26%	−3.9
60	Aidan Alves	Liberty	1.7	66	37.0	33.7	25	37%	6%	35%	−11.9
61	Jake Camarda	Georgia	1.7	38	43.2	37.4	11	30%	22%	35%	−0.5
62	Michael Farkas	Ohio	1.8	42	43.1	40.0	16	39%	7%	43%	−0.2
63	Dom Maggio	Wake Forest	1.8	71	41.4	38.8	26	37%	4%	39%	−0.6
64	Stan Gaudion	Hawai'i	1.9	42	40.6	38.9	12	29%	0%	18%	−5.1
65	Jake Collins	Northwestern	1.9	72	40.7	38.0	28	39%	6%	36%	+5.8
66	Blake Gillikin	Penn State	1.9	60	43.1	37.7	20	33%	15%	21%	+5.1
67	Rhys Byrns	Louisiana	1.9	46	40.1	37.0	19	40%	2%	43%	−7.0
68	Robert LeFevre	Marshall	1.9	59	40.8	37.6	24	41%	7%	26%	+3.0
69	Billy Kinney	West Virginia	1.9	36	41.1	38.1	13	36%	6%	36%	+0.8
70	Tommy Townsend	Florida	1.9	50	45.1	42.0	23	47%	6%	45%	+12.7
71	Oscar Bradburn	Virginia Tech	2.0	65	42.2	39.2	23	35%	6%	44%	+5.8
72	Clayton Stewart	Texas State	2.0	69	37.9	34.4	23	33%	6%	22%	−6.1
73	Tyler Hunt	Michigan State	2.0	36	40.1	37.0	15	42%	6%	28%	−1.1
74	Drew Galitz	Baylor	2.0	50	42.5	39.4	19	37%	6%	45%	+4.8
75	Grant Carlson	Boston College	2.1	68	40.0	37.0	27	41%	3%	25%	−0.3
76	Daniel Rodriguez	Oregon State	2.1	55	41.9	39.9	12	22%	0%	51%	+2.6
77	Adam Williams	Memphis	2.1	50	42.9	37.3	19	37%	10%	30%	−3.0
78	Dylan Klumph	Arizona	2.2	44	42.2	39.1	16	36%	5%	32%	+2.0
79	Brandon Heicklen	San Diego State	2.3	63	42.1	39.6	28	44%	2%	30%	+10.2
80	Steven Coutts	California	2.3	63	41.8	39.1	32	51%	3%	29%	+7.7
81	Pressley Harvin III	Georgia Tech	2.3	31	44.3	40.8	12	39%	6%	17%	+5.4
82	Bryce Crawford	San José State	2.3	65	44.2	40.0	20	31%	9%	15%	−1.0
83	Corey Fatony	Missouri	2.4	47	44.0	40.5	24	51%	6%	14%	+3.7
84	Trent Schneider	South Florida	2.4	68	42.6	37.5	15	24%	14%	24%	−0.8
85	Ryan Bujcevski	Texas	2.4	58	40.2	37.4	18	32%	2%	28%	−5.5
86	Braden Mann	Texas A&M	2.4	47	51.1	44.9	21	45%	19%	22%	+26.2
87	Corliss Waitman	South Alabama	2.4	67	41.7	38.1	16	25%	5%	40%	−4.8
88	Connor Bowler	Temple	2.5	52	42.4	36.9	20	38%	12%	23%	−3.9
89	Austin Parker	Duke	2.5	65	41.4	37.7	25	38%	6%	39%	−5.2
90	Tyson Dyer	New Mexico	2.6	74	44.3	40.2	24	32%	8%	13%	+11.7
91	Matthew Trickett	Kent State	2.6	35	38.7	35.6	13	37%	3%	35%	−10.5
92	Mac Brown	Ole Miss	2.7	48	41.3	37.0	15	31%	8%	36%	−3.0
93	Parker Thome	Vanderbilt	2.7	49	45.1	40.0	19	39%	12%	28%	+10.7
94	Sterling Hofrichter	Syracuse	2.7	61	43.3	39.3	28	46%	7%	36%	+4.7
95	Oscar Draguicevich III	Washington State	2.8	40	46.0	41.3	12	32%	14%	25%	+3.6
96	Tyler Newsome	Notre Dame	2.8	45	44.4	38.6	16	36%	16%	24%	−1.8
97	Ryan Wright	Tulane	2.8	43	44.1	39.4	12	32%	13%	43%	+0.3
98	Quinn Skillin	Boise State	2.8	45	39.0	32.9	20	43%	13%	36%	−6.8
99	Reid Budrovich	USC	2.9	58	39.4	35.5	18	32%	4%	33%	−10.2
100	Jonn Young	East Carolina	2.9	71	40.1	36.9	16	23%	3%	35%	−9.0
101	Kirk Christodoulou	Pittsburgh	3.0	68	41.6	37.8	20	29%	4%	17%	−6.4
102	Luke Magliozzi	UConn	3.1	63	42.9	39.3	26	41%	3%	29%	+5.6
103	Will Hart	Michigan	3.1	39	47.6	39.9	17	44%	23%	8%	+7.5
104	Mac Loudermilk	UCF	3.2	41	42.6	37.9	15	38%	8%	21%	+0.2
105	Hayes Hicken	UNLV	3.4	65	43.8	39.1	20	30%	5%	17%	+1.6
106	Jack Sheldon	Central Michigan	3.4	89	40.4	35.5	20	22%	3%	17%	−23.5
107	Owen White	Navy	3.5	53	41.6	38.5	20	38%	0%	15%	+1.0
108	Stone Wilson	Florida International	3.6	37	43.9	38.6	15	38%	8%	44%	+1.9
109	Mason King	Louisville	3.6	64	40.6	36.5	22	32%	3%	36%	−9.4
110	Brandon Wright	Georgia State	3.7	51	48.2	42.7	22	45%	8%	4%	+9.5
111	Max Duffy	Kentucky	3.8	51	44.8	40.2	26	51%	4%	25%	+5.1
112	Logan Tyler	Florida State	3.8	82	43.2	38.3	17	21%	6%	28%	0.0
113	George Georgopoulos	Massachusetts	3.9	39	39.1	36.2	7	18%	0%	18%	−10.0
114	Jared Porter	UL Monroe	3.9	50	42.6	37.1	12	24%	6%	36%	−7.1
115	Jake Julien	Eastern Michigan	4.0	66	43.6	38.1	23	35%	9%	16%	+4.1
116	Payton Theisler	New Mexico State	4.0	74	40.5	34.3	18	24%	10%	21%	−20.3
117	Michael Sleep-Dalton	Arizona State	4.1	53	43.7	37.5	20	38%	11%	31%	−0.9
118	Blake Hayes	Illinois	4.3	62	43.6	36.6	25	39%	8%	13%	−4.6
119	Thomas Bennett	Tulsa	4.4	53	46.6	40.0	13	25%	11%	12%	−5.7
120	Stefan Flintoft	UCLA	5.2	56	45.8	37.9	17	30%	11%	29%	−1.8
121	Kyle Corbett	Charlotte	5.2	55	41.0	34.8	8	16%	4%	17%	−19.4
122	Derek Adams	Kent State	5.6	31	40.2	33.9	9	29%	3%	13%	−17.5
123	Ryan Stonehouse	Colorado State	7.2	65	48.3	38.3	16	25%	13%	11%	+1.0

All 2018 College punter rankings

Return Yards Allowed per Punt in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

More 2018 College punter leaderboards

Other 2018 College rankings

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