2023 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 2023, Flynn Appleby (0.0) topped college football punters in return yards allowed per punt, ahead of Robert Cole (0.0) and Zachary Haynes (0.0). 123 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had 1.0.

Final 2023 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Ret yds/punt	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Flynn Appleby	Rutgers	0.0	54	39.6	39.2	19	35%	2%	66%	−6.2
2	Robert Cole	Troy	0.0	48	42.1	40.2	11	23%	11%	41%	−1.8
3	Zachary Haynes	New Mexico State	0.0	47	41.2	40.7	19	40%	2%	24%	+2.2
4	Alex Smith	Georgia Southern	0.0	45	40.0	38.4	20	45%	9%	52%	−1.3
5	Jack Blumer	Kansas State	0.0	46	41.8	41.3	19	43%	2%	55%	0.0
6	Mason Fletcher	Cincinnati	0.0	45	43.0	43.0	19	44%	0%	64%	+4.2
7	Alex Weir	San José State	0.0	42	41.6	38.7	17	40%	14%	54%	−0.7
8	Hudson Kaak	Oklahoma State	0.0	35	40.7	40.5	18	51%	0%	61%	+2.8
9	Colton Spangler	Maryland	0.0	33	43.3	42.7	17	52%	3%	31%	+2.0
10	Aidan Flintoft	Stanford	0.0	31	42.0	41.4	10	32%	3%	68%	+2.4
11	Brett Thorson	Georgia	0.0	31	43.7	42.4	15	48%	6%	73%	+8.7
12	Damon Greaves	Kansas	0.0	30	39.4	38.1	10	32%	0%	68%	−8.1
13	Sawyer Evans	North Texas	0.0	33	42.3	42.5	14	45%	3%	63%	+0.5
14	Ryan Hanson	James Madison	0.0	54	40.7	39.9	32	59%	4%	48%	+5.0
15	Jack Ansell	Purdue	0.0	60	40.7	38.7	20	33%	10%	47%	−1.0
16	Hunter Renner	Northwestern	0.0	64	38.9	37.6	14	22%	5%	29%	−11.8
17	Oliver Straw	West Virginia	0.0	40	42.7	41.2	20	51%	3%	46%	+5.9
18	Lucas Dean	UTSA	0.1	46	42.0	41.3	18	40%	4%	63%	+6.4
19	Jack McCallister	Washington	0.1	37	41.5	40.8	15	41%	3%	57%	+4.3
20	Andrew Stokes	South Florida	0.1	49	41.3	41.1	22	46%	0%	44%	+8.0
21	Jack Martin	South Alabama	0.1	41	40.0	39.6	13	33%	3%	57%	−5.9
22	Braxton Guilbeau	UL Monroe	0.2	61	41.0	39.9	18	30%	5%	42%	−3.6
23	Will Powers	UCLA	0.2	44	42.7	41.6	13	30%	5%	48%	+4.0
24	Mark Crawford	Minnesota	0.2	61	42.4	41.0	26	43%	7%	53%	+8.7
25	Max Morgan	Liberty	0.2	30	40.2	38.1	8	27%	10%	42%	−2.1
26	Keelan Crimmins	Mississippi State	0.2	49	40.9	40.7	16	33%	0%	63%	−4.5
27	Jack Bouwmeester	Utah	0.2	48	46.0	44.2	24	50%	8%	55%	+16.4
28	Blake Ochsendorf	Louisiana Tech	0.2	53	45.7	43.6	18	35%	10%	52%	+5.0
29	Clayton Stewart	Wyoming	0.2	57	42.8	40.5	16	28%	11%	38%	−2.3
30	Riley Riethman	Navy	0.2	80	44.8	42.1	22	28%	13%	40%	+7.8
31	Daton Montiel	Florida International	0.3	72	39.2	38.0	13	18%	4%	60%	−17.9
32	Ryan Marks	Utah State	0.3	33	43.9	40.7	12	36%	13%	26%	+2.1
33	Reid Bauer	Memphis	0.3	43	43.2	40.7	14	33%	12%	58%	+1.1
34	Atticus Bertrams	Wisconsin	0.3	58	41.8	40.2	24	41%	7%	53%	−1.1
35	Eddie Czaplicki	USC	0.4	42	43.6	41.4	17	40%	10%	59%	+4.4
36	Jack Dawson	Jacksonville State	0.4	61	42.6	42.9	24	39%	2%	50%	+9.8
37	Thomas Leo	Louisiana	0.4	44	41.5	40.1	16	37%	7%	63%	+1.5
38	Ryan Eckley	Michigan State	0.4	56	46.7	45.7	25	45%	4%	56%	+13.3
39	Evan Crenshaw	Coastal Carolina	0.4	33	41.2	38.5	7	21%	6%	52%	−2.9
40	Tom Foley	Northern Illinois	0.5	48	40.7	39.7	18	39%	4%	52%	−2.4
41	Jackson Ross	Tennessee	0.5	48	42.8	41.2	21	44%	6%	56%	+6.0
42	Laine Wilkins	Houston	0.5	49	42.2	41.1	19	39%	4%	35%	+3.4
43	Carson King	Fresno State	0.5	51	41.2	39.8	22	43%	6%	57%	−2.8
44	Kai Kroeger	South Carolina	0.5	62	43.1	41.4	22	35%	6%	49%	+2.0
45	Jeremy Crawshaw	Florida	0.6	42	48.9	46.0	16	38%	12%	37%	+12.2
46	Caleb Junko	Pittsburgh	0.6	62	42.3	39.3	18	31%	12%	24%	−1.9
47	Wilson Berry	Kentucky	0.6	50	41.5	38.8	16	33%	8%	47%	−2.3
48	Alec Bevelhimer	Miami (OH)	0.7	53	45.3	44.1	28	53%	8%	36%	+22.9
49	David Shanahan	Georgia Tech	0.7	42	42.4	39.9	12	30%	10%	44%	0.0
50	Bryce Lofton	Southern Miss	0.7	60	40.4	38.5	15	25%	7%	44%	−9.7
51	Dante Atton	Temple	0.8	43	39.4	38.9	16	38%	0%	33%	−3.9
52	Matthew Shipley	Hawai'i	0.8	60	39.5	38.8	10	17%	5%	26%	−13.8
53	Ryan Bujcevski	SMU	0.8	37	45.2	42.9	8	22%	8%	36%	−6.7
54	Jadon Cardell	Sam Houston	0.8	75	40.9	38.6	23	31%	9%	35%	−2.6
55	Nick Haberer	Washington State	0.9	47	44.3	42.4	16	35%	7%	62%	+8.2
56	Dante Jackson	Akron	0.9	65	37.5	36.0	16	25%	5%	46%	−13.1
57	Porter Wilson	Duke	0.9	50	46.8	44.3	25	50%	8%	40%	+18.2
58	Oscar Chapman	Auburn	1.0	58	44.9	42.0	21	36%	10%	43%	+8.0
59	Tom Ellard	Western Kentucky	1.0	46	41.0	39.9	17	37%	2%	52%	−4.0
60	Tyler Perkins	Iowa State	1.0	58	44.3	41.2	26	45%	12%	28%	+10.3
61	Hugh Robertson	Illinois	1.0	51	42.6	39.9	17	33%	6%	60%	−6.5
62	Mitchell Lake	App State	1.0	51	38.7	37.1	17	33%	4%	43%	−8.8
63	Ivan Mora	Wake Forest	1.0	58	41.6	39.8	20	36%	7%	39%	+0.8
64	Peter Moore	Virginia Tech	1.0	58	43.2	41.6	22	38%	5%	41%	+6.4
65	Alex Mastromanno	Florida State	1.1	61	45.2	43.2	26	43%	5%	57%	+12.4
66	Mitchell Tomasek	Eastern Michigan	1.1	61	45.3	43.7	26	43%	5%	44%	+10.3
67	James Evans	Indiana	1.2	57	45.8	42.7	18	32%	11%	38%	+8.9
68	Ryan Sanborn	Texas	1.2	35	45.5	43.5	14	42%	6%	19%	+8.8
69	Jack Browning	San Diego State	1.2	54	45.4	42.5	27	50%	9%	49%	+14.8
70	Paddy Turner	Colorado State	1.3	52	43.3	41.9	18	35%	4%	22%	+3.3
71	Emilio Duran	Toledo	1.3	48	37.6	36.9	16	34%	0%	58%	−7.4
72	Grant Gonya	Charlotte	1.3	60	44.5	40.7	17	28%	15%	25%	−11.0
73	Tommy Doman	Michigan	1.3	42	43.5	42.3	19	46%	7%	54%	+8.8
74	George Caratan	UConn	1.3	61	44.2	42.3	22	37%	10%	31%	+2.1
75	Austin McNamara	Texas Tech	1.3	50	46.5	43.1	22	44%	12%	44%	+8.9
76	Ethan Duane	Old Dominion	1.3	46	39.6	38.1	12	27%	4%	41%	−9.4
77	Luke Larsen	East Carolina	1.4	60	40.9	39.4	21	35%	2%	48%	−2.7
78	Cooper Allan	Army	1.5	44	36.8	35.0	11	26%	2%	34%	−15.5
79	Riley Thompson	Penn State	1.5	46	45.2	42.4	19	40%	4%	50%	+7.7
80	Seamus O'Kelly	Texas State	1.5	36	41.1	39.6	8	22%	3%	57%	+0.9
81	Miles Tillman	Middle Tennessee	1.5	34	43.8	40.9	17	52%	9%	30%	+3.9
82	Jordy Sandy	TCU	1.5	37	42.2	40.0	9	24%	5%	50%	−7.1
83	Trey Turk	Middle Tennessee	1.6	33	42.5	39.5	12	36%	9%	24%	−1.1
84	Angus Davies	Tulsa	1.6	58	42.7	40.3	26	44%	2%	47%	+3.9
85	Will Karoll	Tulane	1.6	40	43.5	40.5	12	30%	8%	46%	+1.4
86	Caden Noonkester	NC State	1.7	67	42.7	39.9	28	42%	7%	52%	+6.2
87	Aidan Swanson	Clemson	1.7	55	43.7	40.4	22	40%	9%	47%	+6.6
88	Brian Buschini	Nebraska	1.9	57	40.7	38.8	20	34%	3%	42%	−8.8
89	Tory Taylor	Iowa	1.9	86	47.9	44.7	33	38%	7%	43%	+25.2
90	Patrick Foley	UAB	1.9	41	42.8	40.5	14	34%	5%	46%	−3.2
91	Kade Loggins	Georgia State	2.0	58	40.9	38.9	16	29%	5%	26%	−17.5
92	Matt Freem	Nevada	2.1	66	41.2	39.2	18	28%	5%	26%	−5.7
93	Sam Candotti	Boston College	2.2	32	38.5	36.3	12	38%	3%	43%	−5.6
94	Fraser Masin	Ole Miss	2.3	43	42.4	39.5	17	39%	0%	31%	+1.4
95	Marshall Nichols	UNLV	2.3	48	45.8	42.7	18	39%	13%	52%	+6.8
96	Jake Walrath	Central Michigan	2.3	62	43.2	39.5	16	26%	11%	38%	−2.9
97	Dylan Joyce	Miami	2.3	40	43.5	40.6	14	34%	0%	45%	+3.4
98	Josh Green	Oregon State	2.4	32	42.0	38.8	14	44%	9%	50%	−3.2
99	James Burnip	Alabama	2.4	50	47.2	42.2	21	42%	14%	36%	+13.8
100	Nik Constantinou	Texas A&M	2.5	38	40.9	38.6	14	37%	3%	33%	−0.3
101	Logan Lupo	Florida Atlantic	2.5	55	44.1	39.7	17	31%	7%	52%	−1.4
102	Mark Vassett	Colorado	2.5	66	44.1	41.4	24	36%	5%	23%	+7.3
103	Matthew Hayball	Vanderbilt	2.6	58	47.6	44.8	25	44%	7%	27%	+16.5
104	Conor Hunt	Rice	2.6	48	39.6	37.5	6	13%	2%	37%	−18.0
105	Jesse Mirco	Ohio State	2.6	42	42.6	40.3	18	43%	2%	31%	+2.4
106	James Ferguson-Reynolds	Boise State	2.7	51	49.6	44.8	25	49%	16%	10%	+11.3
107	William Przystup	Arkansas State	2.8	56	43.7	40.3	20	36%	9%	25%	−2.0
108	Jack Stonehouse	Syracuse	3.0	52	46.5	42.5	20	38%	10%	41%	+1.9
109	Anthony Venneri	Buffalo	3.1	53	43.6	41.3	17	33%	4%	30%	−1.6
110	Joshua Sloan	UTEP	3.4	51	44.2	41.2	22	44%	6%	37%	+2.0
111	Aaron Rodriguez	New Mexico	3.4	52	42.4	39.9	20	39%	2%	41%	−0.4
112	Daniel Sparks	Virginia	3.5	64	42.9	37.2	17	26%	11%	34%	−9.9
113	Max Fletcher	Arkansas	3.8	59	46.9	42.8	21	36%	5%	36%	+2.9
114	Mitch McCarthy	UCF	4.2	34	41.1	36.0	9	26%	9%	56%	−13.8
115	Carson Voss	Western Michigan	4.3	44	39.3	36.5	11	25%	2%	42%	−19.9
116	Bryce McFerson	Notre Dame	4.3	37	44.7	40.2	6	17%	6%	34%	−2.5
117	Palmer Williams	Baylor	4.9	37	43.0	38.6	11	30%	3%	38%	−7.2
118	Lachlan Wilson	California	5.5	47	45.6	41.3	19	40%	4%	41%	−1.6
119	CJ Kolodziey	Massachusetts	5.5	51	41.3	35.8	10	21%	8%	18%	−13.5
120	John McConnell	Marshall	5.6	55	43.1	37.1	14	26%	6%	32%	−9.4
121	Ryan Rehkow	BYU	5.6	68	48.3	42.2	25	38%	8%	30%	+6.0
122	Josh Smith	Kent State	5.6	50	41.0	36.8	15	30%	2%	26%	−17.1
123	Lucas Borrow	Ball State	5.7	58	41.7	36.7	22	38%	5%	28%	−10.9

All 2023 College punter rankings

Return Yards Allowed per Punt in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

More 2023 College punter leaderboards

Other 2023 College rankings

Loading the interactive stats…