2021 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 2021, Grant McKinniss (+4.1) led college football punters in touchbacks avoided (STOP rank), ahead of James Burnip (+3.8) and Dom Dzioban (+3.7). 119 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had +0.2.

Final 2021 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	STOP	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Grant McKinniss	Missouri	+4.1	48	41.4	38.7	28	62%	0%	41%	−4.0
2	James Burnip	Alabama	+3.8	42	39.1	36.8	16	37%	0%	40%	−7.2
3	Dom Dzioban	Miami (OH)	+3.7	49	39.0	36.8	17	35%	0%	44%	−3.8
4	Adam Korsak	Rutgers	+3.4	70	45.9	45.3	38	54%	0%	49%	+21.5
5	Xavier Subotsch	App State	+3.3	48	40.8	39.4	26	55%	2%	48%	+1.6
6	Blake Hayes	Illinois	+3.1	68	45.1	43.3	35	53%	3%	33%	+12.8
7	Derek Adams	Northwestern	+2.9	58	41.5	38.0	17	29%	0%	51%	−13.6
8	Will Spiers	Clemson	+2.8	58	42.1	39.4	28	47%	3%	43%	+2.8
9	Andrew Osteen	UCF	+2.8	66	41.1	38.7	19	29%	2%	43%	−6.1
10	Alex Mastromanno	Florida State	+2.7	61	42.7	40.9	18	30%	0%	63%	−1.5
11	Mark Crawford	Minnesota	+2.6	44	41.6	40.6	21	48%	2%	36%	+6.3
12	James Williams	Syracuse	+2.4	40	38.4	35.1	9	23%	0%	31%	−11.8
13	Lou Hedley	Miami	+2.3	49	44.7	43.0	21	44%	2%	38%	+9.0
14	Jordan Stout	Penn State	+2.3	62	46.5	45.0	35	57%	5%	42%	+22.6
15	Andrew Stokes	South Florida	+2.2	56	39.0	36.3	18	33%	4%	27%	−20.9
16	Mark Vassett	Louisville	+2.2	47	41.6	39.7	19	41%	2%	50%	+2.9
17	Jack Ansell	Purdue	+2.2	39	37.9	34.9	11	28%	0%	48%	−11.4
18	Ryan Hanson	Arkansas State	+2.1	68	44.0	42.1	23	35%	2%	43%	+6.3
19	Jonn Young	East Carolina	+2.0	48	43.0	40.5	19	40%	4%	55%	+3.9
20	Cesar Barajas	Louisiana Tech	+2.0	54	41.5	37.9	25	47%	4%	41%	−3.5
21	Seamus O'Kelly	Texas State	+1.9	60	38.4	37.1	20	33%	2%	53%	−8.8
22	Kai Kroeger	South Carolina	+1.9	57	42.8	39.8	25	44%	4%	43%	+1.9
23	Ralph Fawaz	Wyoming	+1.8	55	42.4	39.6	21	38%	2%	38%	−3.6
24	Joe McFadden	UConn	+1.6	61	39.8	38.1	13	21%	2%	33%	−13.2
25	Adam Barry	Temple	+1.6	63	42.0	37.2	16	25%	2%	44%	−15.6
26	Nik Constantinou	Texas A&M	+1.6	51	46.6	43.3	23	44%	4%	39%	+15.0
27	Lucas Dean	UTSA	+1.5	44	45.4	43.1	21	48%	5%	31%	+7.7
28	George Georgopoulos	Massachusetts	+1.5	64	44.8	41.6	20	38%	2%	14%	0.0
29	Carson King	Fresno State	+1.5	52	41.6	39.3	24	46%	6%	37%	−0.9
30	Ivan Mora	Wake Forest	+1.4	47	43.7	40.6	17	37%	4%	36%	+2.7
31	Brendan Hall	SMU	+1.4	36	41.7	36.2	10	28%	3%	44%	−6.6
32	Charles Ouverson	Coastal Carolina	+1.3	38	37.2	36.2	13	34%	5%	42%	−5.1
33	Ethan Slike	Akron	+1.3	49	43.0	39.7	12	28%	2%	28%	−6.6
34	Ethan Duane	Old Dominion	+1.3	54	39.6	37.0	17	33%	4%	32%	−8.3
35	Josh Smith	Kent State	+1.2	51	36.4	35.0	15	29%	6%	38%	−12.3
36	Mason Fletcher	Cincinnati	+1.2	45	42.7	41.3	17	38%	4%	49%	+8.7
37	Evan Silva	UNLV	+1.2	52	40.2	37.0	16	33%	4%	46%	−10.1
38	Avery Atkins	LSU	+1.1	59	42.4	38.7	20	34%	5%	45%	−4.5
39	Stephen Kotsanlee	Utah State	+1.1	49	42.6	40.3	18	38%	4%	37%	+2.5
40	Anthony Beck II	Georgia Southern	+1.0	64	45.0	42.0	26	41%	3%	47%	+10.7
41	Tom Snee	Oregon	+1.0	41	42.8	38.7	17	41%	8%	26%	+3.1
42	Ryan Sanborn	Stanford	+0.9	60	43.3	37.3	21	36%	7%	27%	−2.6
43	Nathan Snyder	Ball State	+0.9	52	42.7	41.7	23	45%	4%	63%	+5.0
44	Eddie Czaplicki	Arizona State	+0.9	42	43.3	40.1	19	45%	7%	32%	+8.1
45	Laine Wilkins	Houston	+0.8	55	42.3	39.9	22	40%	7%	44%	−0.3
46	Josh Carlson	New Mexico State	+0.8	71	41.5	38.2	20	29%	4%	40%	−6.4
47	Devyn McCormick	UL Monroe	+0.7	69	41.2	37.8	25	38%	6%	37%	−2.7
48	Ben Kiernan	North Carolina	+0.7	40	43.3	37.3	12	29%	5%	38%	−11.0
49	Porter Wilson	Duke	+0.7	61	44.8	41.0	23	38%	5%	29%	+3.9
50	Harrison Smith	Vanderbilt	+0.6	73	42.5	38.6	17	23%	4%	30%	−7.4
51	Reis Vernon	Kansas	+0.5	49	40.4	35.4	11	22%	4%	38%	−22.4
52	Jamieson Sheahan	California	+0.5	53	43.1	41.6	14	26%	4%	60%	−2.5
53	Joel Velazquez	Boise State	+0.4	51	43.1	39.7	19	38%	6%	42%	+6.8
54	Bailey Rice	Charlotte	+0.4	40	42.2	40.6	15	38%	5%	48%	+1.8
55	Reid Bauer	Arkansas	+0.3	53	43.2	39.7	13	24%	6%	44%	−3.6
56	Trenton Gill	NC State	+0.3	65	44.4	41.7	36	55%	8%	44%	+7.4
57	Jay Bramblett	Notre Dame	+0.2	51	44.1	41.3	16	31%	6%	37%	+2.6
58	Race Porter	Washington	+0.2	53	48.5	42.8	20	42%	6%	23%	+9.6
59	Tom Hutton	Oklahoma State	+0.2	66	42.2	40.4	27	41%	9%	52%	+6.5
60	Riley Riethman	Navy	+0.2	44	42.7	37.7	12	27%	5%	19%	−8.5
61	Matthew Shipley	Hawai'i	+0.1	55	41.5	37.5	18	33%	8%	55%	−8.2
62	Grant Carlson	Boston College	0.0	52	44.2	39.3	22	42%	8%	26%	+1.5
63	Oscar Chapman	Auburn	−0.1	51	44.8	42.6	22	43%	8%	51%	+10.9
64	Mason Hunt	Southern Miss	−0.1	71	43.6	39.7	22	33%	6%	48%	+4.9
65	Nick Haberer	Washington State	−0.1	45	42.7	38.3	15	33%	7%	50%	−4.3
66	Kirk Christodoulou	Pittsburgh	−0.1	53	41.1	38.5	24	45%	9%	47%	+1.7
67	Andy Vujnovich	Wisconsin	−0.1	46	45.8	41.3	17	36%	6%	30%	+3.4
68	Rhys Byrns	Louisiana	−0.2	54	46.2	44.0	25	47%	6%	38%	+11.4
69	Robert LeFevre	Marshall	−0.2	53	40.3	38.7	18	34%	4%	44%	−2.5
70	Brad Robbins	Michigan	−0.2	43	46.4	44.1	16	38%	7%	43%	+11.9
71	Luke Elzinga	Central Michigan	−0.3	50	41.1	37.7	20	40%	8%	33%	−4.9
72	Paxton Brooks	Tennessee	−0.6	39	44.2	42.2	17	44%	8%	66%	+2.2
73	Zach Harding	Army	−0.6	35	44.1	40.5	16	46%	11%	31%	+5.9
74	Jack Brooks	South Alabama	−0.7	53	43.2	39.3	12	29%	5%	33%	−0.5
75	Jordy Sandy	TCU	−0.7	43	43.3	41.8	12	28%	7%	61%	+2.0
76	James Evans	Indiana	−0.7	69	41.9	38.4	15	22%	6%	28%	−8.8
77	Jacob Finn	Virginia	−0.7	41	44.2	40.4	12	29%	7%	29%	+0.4
78	Joshua Sloan	UTEP	−0.8	60	40.2	37.2	23	40%	7%	43%	−8.2
79	Cameron Dicker	Texas	−0.8	47	46.8	44.1	13	27%	6%	44%	+13.4
80	Bailey Flint	Toledo	−0.9	57	40.0	36.4	20	36%	9%	41%	−15.3
81	Julian Diaz	Nevada	−0.9	45	44.3	41.2	11	26%	7%	30%	+1.2
82	Kyle Ulbrich	Middle Tennessee	−1.0	62	44.5	39.6	25	42%	8%	30%	+0.9
83	Matt Naranjo	Bowling Green	−1.0	65	41.6	38.1	21	32%	6%	5%	−9.9
84	Nick Mihalic	Western Michigan	−1.0	44	42.5	36.6	14	33%	10%	26%	−6.7
85	Charlie Mendes	Rice	−1.1	59	42.7	36.9	17	27%	8%	12%	−12.7
86	Michael Hayes II	Georgia State	−1.3	56	42.0	38.4	15	28%	9%	29%	−4.0
87	Peter Moore	Virginia Tech	−1.3	59	45.1	40.3	24	41%	10%	39%	+2.4
88	Ty Zentner	Kansas State	−1.3	39	44.3	40.5	19	49%	10%	31%	+4.0
89	Joe Doyle	Memphis	−1.4	41	46.0	40.9	18	43%	10%	32%	+7.7
90	William Przystup	Nebraska	−1.5	31	43.4	39.1	6	19%	10%	26%	−6.3
91	Ben Griffiths	USC	−1.6	44	45.0	41.1	17	40%	12%	55%	+5.9
92	Mac Brown	Ole Miss	−1.7	38	44.0	39.4	15	39%	16%	35%	+6.2
93	Luke Magliozzi	Troy	−1.8	61	42.5	37.4	17	28%	8%	41%	−8.2
94	Bernardo Rodriguez	North Texas	−1.9	56	42.9	37.2	16	30%	9%	9%	−7.8
95	Jeremy Crawshaw	Florida	−1.9	46	44.0	39.8	20	43%	13%	45%	+5.2
96	Will Hart	San José State	−1.9	67	44.4	41.6	31	46%	10%	40%	+7.3
97	Michael Turk	Oklahoma	−2.1	33	51.3	44.9	14	41%	12%	23%	+5.6
98	Aaron Rodriguez	New Mexico	−2.1	81	42.8	39.3	18	23%	9%	40%	−1.0
99	Ryan Wright	Tulane	−2.3	51	47.5	44.8	16	33%	10%	49%	+15.0
100	Josh Watts	Colorado	−2.5	66	47.8	38.5	20	31%	11%	23%	+0.9
101	Kyle Greenwell	UAB	−2.5	57	43.0	39.1	17	30%	11%	48%	−1.4
102	Issac Power	Baylor	−2.6	44	46.2	42.9	18	41%	14%	41%	+15.0
103	Austin McNamara	Texas Tech	−2.7	38	48.4	43.9	17	45%	13%	54%	+15.0
104	Tyler Sumpter	West Virginia	−2.8	45	43.6	39.8	14	31%	13%	31%	+1.1
105	Tory Taylor	Iowa	−2.9	76	45.9	41.6	36	47%	15%	30%	+13.1
106	Jake Julien	Eastern Michigan	−3.0	46	45.9	43.6	14	30%	11%	50%	+6.4
107	Colin Goodfellow	Kentucky	−3.1	31	46.0	41.3	11	35%	16%	29%	+2.1
108	Ryan Rehkow	BYU	−3.2	39	48.7	42.7	16	41%	15%	26%	+6.4
109	Jake Camarda	Georgia	−3.3	40	47.1	41.4	14	35%	15%	28%	+0.5
110	Matthew Hayball	Florida Atlantic	−3.4	61	45.7	42.1	31	53%	10%	36%	+4.4
111	David Shanahan	Georgia Tech	−3.4	61	41.5	35.6	19	31%	13%	30%	−14.1
112	Luke Akers	UCLA	−3.5	34	43.1	37.1	6	19%	23%	35%	−1.2
113	Matt Ference	Northern Illinois	−3.7	45	44.4	37.0	9	20%	13%	29%	−8.7
114	Lachlan Wilson	Tulsa	−3.8	59	46.0	40.0	23	40%	14%	33%	+3.4
115	Bryce Baringer	Michigan State	−4.8	56	48.6	43.8	19	34%	14%	22%	+8.5
116	Ryan Stonehouse	Colorado State	−6.7	58	50.9	41.8	25	45%	20%	11%	+5.5
117	Tommy Heatherly	Florida International	−7.1	75	46.9	39.8	26	38%	18%	16%	+0.1
118	Kyle Ostendorp	Arizona	−7.2	58	49.2	44.0	19	33%	19%	19%	+18.6
119	Matt Araiza	San Diego State	−9.8	76	51.4	44.6	38	48%	19%	17%	+26.2

All 2021 College punter rankings

Touchbacks Avoided (STOP Rank) in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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