2023 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 2023, Andrew Stokes (+3.7) led college football punters in touchbacks avoided (STOP rank), ahead of Ryan Hanson (+3.5) and Emilio Duran (+3.4). 123 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had −0.1.

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

Rk	Player	Team	STOP	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Andrew Stokes	South Florida	+3.7	49	41.3	41.1	22	46%	0%	44%	+8.0
2	Ryan Hanson	James Madison	+3.5	54	40.7	39.9	32	59%	4%	48%	+5.0
3	Emilio Duran	Toledo	+3.4	48	37.6	36.9	16	34%	0%	58%	−7.4
4	Angus Davies	Tulsa	+3.4	58	42.7	40.3	26	44%	2%	47%	+3.9
5	Hudson Kaak	Oklahoma State	+3.3	35	40.7	40.5	18	51%	0%	61%	+2.8
6	Mitchell Lake	App State	+3.0	51	38.7	37.1	17	33%	4%	43%	−8.8
7	Mason Fletcher	Cincinnati	+2.7	45	43.0	43.0	19	44%	0%	64%	+4.2
8	Dylan Joyce	Miami	+2.5	40	43.5	40.6	14	34%	0%	45%	+3.4
9	Zachary Haynes	New Mexico State	+2.4	47	41.2	40.7	19	40%	2%	24%	+2.2
10	Jack Blumer	Kansas State	+2.4	46	41.8	41.3	19	43%	2%	55%	0.0
11	Cooper Allan	Army	+2.4	44	36.8	35.0	11	26%	2%	34%	−15.5
12	Dante Atton	Temple	+2.3	43	39.4	38.9	16	38%	0%	33%	−3.9
13	Aaron Rodriguez	New Mexico	+2.3	52	42.4	39.9	20	39%	2%	41%	−0.4
14	Fraser Masin	Ole Miss	+2.2	43	42.4	39.5	17	39%	0%	31%	+1.4
15	Flynn Appleby	Rutgers	+2.1	54	39.6	39.2	19	35%	2%	66%	−6.2
16	Sam Candotti	Boston College	+2.0	32	38.5	36.3	12	38%	3%	43%	−5.6
17	Keelan Crimmins	Mississippi State	+1.9	49	40.9	40.7	16	33%	0%	63%	−4.5
18	Tom Ellard	Western Kentucky	+1.9	46	41.0	39.9	17	37%	2%	52%	−4.0
19	Luke Larsen	East Carolina	+1.9	60	40.9	39.4	21	35%	2%	48%	−2.7
20	Jesse Mirco	Ohio State	+1.8	42	42.6	40.3	18	43%	2%	31%	+2.4
21	Brian Buschini	Nebraska	+1.7	57	40.7	38.8	20	34%	3%	42%	−8.8
22	Jack McCallister	Washington	+1.7	37	41.5	40.8	15	41%	3%	57%	+4.3
23	Damon Greaves	Kansas	+1.5	30	39.4	38.1	10	32%	0%	68%	−8.1
24	Jack Dawson	Jacksonville State	+1.3	61	42.6	42.9	24	39%	2%	50%	+9.8
25	Laine Wilkins	Houston	+1.3	49	42.2	41.1	19	39%	4%	35%	+3.4
26	Nik Constantinou	Texas A&M	+1.3	38	40.9	38.6	14	37%	3%	33%	−0.3
27	Alex Mastromanno	Florida State	+1.2	61	45.2	43.2	26	43%	5%	57%	+12.4
28	Tom Foley	Northern Illinois	+1.2	48	40.7	39.7	18	39%	4%	52%	−2.4
29	Jack Martin	South Alabama	+1.2	41	40.0	39.6	13	33%	3%	57%	−5.9
30	Carson Voss	Western Michigan	+1.1	44	39.3	36.5	11	25%	2%	42%	−19.9
31	Josh Smith	Kent State	+1.0	50	41.0	36.8	15	30%	2%	26%	−17.1
32	Mark Vassett	Colorado	+1.0	66	44.1	41.4	24	36%	5%	23%	+7.3
33	Lucas Dean	UTSA	+0.9	46	42.0	41.3	18	40%	4%	63%	+6.4
34	Seamus O'Kelly	Texas State	+0.8	36	41.1	39.6	8	22%	3%	57%	+0.9
35	Lucas Borrow	Ball State	+0.8	58	41.7	36.7	22	38%	5%	28%	−10.9
36	Oliver Straw	West Virginia	+0.8	40	42.7	41.2	20	51%	3%	46%	+5.9
37	Sawyer Evans	North Texas	+0.7	33	42.3	42.5	14	45%	3%	63%	+0.5
38	Will Powers	UCLA	+0.7	44	42.7	41.6	13	30%	5%	48%	+4.0
39	Aidan Flintoft	Stanford	+0.6	31	42.0	41.4	10	32%	3%	68%	+2.4
40	Palmer Williams	Baylor	+0.6	37	43.0	38.6	11	30%	3%	38%	−7.2
41	Ryan Eckley	Michigan State	+0.5	56	46.7	45.7	25	45%	4%	56%	+13.3
42	Ryan Sanborn	Texas	+0.4	35	45.5	43.5	14	42%	6%	19%	+8.8
43	Atticus Bertrams	Wisconsin	+0.4	58	41.8	40.2	24	41%	7%	53%	−1.1
44	Braxton Guilbeau	UL Monroe	+0.3	61	41.0	39.9	18	30%	5%	42%	−3.6
45	Colton Spangler	Maryland	+0.2	33	43.3	42.7	17	52%	3%	31%	+2.0
46	Hunter Renner	Northwestern	+0.2	64	38.9	37.6	14	22%	5%	29%	−11.8
47	Riley Thompson	Penn State	+0.2	46	45.2	42.4	19	40%	4%	50%	+7.7
48	Conor Hunt	Rice	+0.2	48	39.6	37.5	6	13%	2%	37%	−18.0
49	Jordy Sandy	TCU	+0.2	37	42.2	40.0	9	24%	5%	50%	−7.1
50	Kai Kroeger	South Carolina	+0.1	62	43.1	41.4	22	35%	6%	49%	+2.0
51	Paddy Turner	Colorado State	+0.1	52	43.3	41.9	18	35%	4%	22%	+3.3
52	Kade Loggins	Georgia State	+0.1	58	40.9	38.9	16	29%	5%	26%	−17.5
53	Evan Crenshaw	Coastal Carolina	0.0	33	41.2	38.5	7	21%	6%	52%	−2.9
54	Joshua Sloan	UTEP	0.0	51	44.2	41.2	22	44%	6%	37%	+2.0
55	Peter Moore	Virginia Tech	0.0	58	43.2	41.6	22	38%	5%	41%	+6.4
56	Aidan Swanson	Clemson	0.0	55	43.7	40.4	22	40%	9%	47%	+6.6
57	Hugh Robertson	Illinois	0.0	51	42.6	39.9	17	33%	6%	60%	−6.5
58	Mark Crawford	Minnesota	0.0	61	42.4	41.0	26	43%	7%	53%	+8.7
59	Jackson Ross	Tennessee	0.0	48	42.8	41.2	21	44%	6%	56%	+6.0
60	Caden Noonkester	NC State	0.0	67	42.7	39.9	28	42%	7%	52%	+6.2
61	Brett Thorson	Georgia	−0.1	31	43.7	42.4	15	48%	6%	73%	+8.7
62	Logan Lupo	Florida Atlantic	−0.1	55	44.1	39.7	17	31%	7%	52%	−1.4
63	Nick Haberer	Washington State	−0.1	47	44.3	42.4	16	35%	7%	62%	+8.2
64	Thomas Leo	Louisiana	−0.1	44	41.5	40.1	16	37%	7%	63%	+1.5
65	Patrick Foley	UAB	−0.2	41	42.8	40.5	14	34%	5%	46%	−3.2
66	Bryce McFerson	Notre Dame	−0.2	37	44.7	40.2	6	17%	6%	34%	−2.5
67	Alex Smith	Georgia Southern	−0.3	45	40.0	38.4	20	45%	9%	52%	−1.3
68	Mitchell Tomasek	Eastern Michigan	−0.3	61	45.3	43.7	26	43%	5%	44%	+10.3
69	Daton Montiel	Florida International	−0.3	72	39.2	38.0	13	18%	4%	60%	−17.9
70	Carson King	Fresno State	−0.3	51	41.2	39.8	22	43%	6%	57%	−2.8
71	Ethan Duane	Old Dominion	−0.4	46	39.6	38.1	12	27%	4%	41%	−9.4
72	Jack Bouwmeester	Utah	−0.4	48	46.0	44.2	24	50%	8%	55%	+16.4
73	Lachlan Wilson	California	−0.4	47	45.6	41.3	19	40%	4%	41%	−1.6
74	Bryce Lofton	Southern Miss	−0.5	60	40.4	38.5	15	25%	7%	44%	−9.7
75	Will Karoll	Tulane	−0.5	40	43.5	40.5	12	30%	8%	46%	+1.4
76	Dante Jackson	Akron	−0.6	65	37.5	36.0	16	25%	5%	46%	−13.1
77	Tommy Doman	Michigan	−0.6	42	43.5	42.3	19	46%	7%	54%	+8.8
78	Miles Tillman	Middle Tennessee	−0.7	34	43.8	40.9	17	52%	9%	30%	+3.9
79	Trey Turk	Middle Tennessee	−0.7	33	42.5	39.5	12	36%	9%	24%	−1.1
80	Anthony Venneri	Buffalo	−0.7	53	43.6	41.3	17	33%	4%	30%	−1.6
81	Josh Green	Oregon State	−0.7	32	42.0	38.8	14	44%	9%	50%	−3.2
82	John McConnell	Marshall	−0.7	55	43.1	37.1	14	26%	6%	32%	−9.4
83	Matt Freem	Nevada	−0.8	66	41.2	39.2	18	28%	5%	26%	−5.7
84	Ivan Mora	Wake Forest	−0.9	58	41.6	39.8	20	36%	7%	39%	+0.8
85	Mitch McCarthy	UCF	−0.9	34	41.1	36.0	9	26%	9%	56%	−13.8
86	Eddie Czaplicki	USC	−1.0	42	43.6	41.4	17	40%	10%	59%	+4.4
87	Alec Bevelhimer	Miami (OH)	−1.1	53	45.3	44.1	28	53%	8%	36%	+22.9
88	Max Fletcher	Arkansas	−1.1	59	46.9	42.8	21	36%	5%	36%	+2.9
89	Max Morgan	Liberty	−1.2	30	40.2	38.1	8	27%	10%	42%	−2.1
90	Matthew Shipley	Hawai'i	−1.3	60	39.5	38.8	10	17%	5%	26%	−13.8
91	Ryan Bujcevski	SMU	−1.3	37	45.2	42.9	8	22%	8%	36%	−6.7
92	David Shanahan	Georgia Tech	−1.3	42	42.4	39.9	12	30%	10%	44%	0.0
93	Porter Wilson	Duke	−1.4	50	46.8	44.3	25	50%	8%	40%	+18.2
94	Ryan Marks	Utah State	−1.4	33	43.9	40.7	12	36%	13%	26%	+2.1
95	Matthew Hayball	Vanderbilt	−1.4	58	47.6	44.8	25	44%	7%	27%	+16.5
96	Jack Browning	San Diego State	−1.5	54	45.4	42.5	27	50%	9%	49%	+14.8
97	Wilson Berry	Kentucky	−1.5	50	41.5	38.8	16	33%	8%	47%	−2.3
98	Ryan Rehkow	BYU	−1.8	68	48.3	42.2	25	38%	8%	30%	+6.0
99	Tory Taylor	Iowa	−1.8	86	47.9	44.7	33	38%	7%	43%	+25.2
100	CJ Kolodziey	Massachusetts	−1.8	51	41.3	35.8	10	21%	8%	18%	−13.5
101	Oscar Chapman	Auburn	−1.9	58	44.9	42.0	21	36%	10%	43%	+8.0
102	William Przystup	Arkansas State	−1.9	56	43.7	40.3	20	36%	9%	25%	−2.0
103	Reid Bauer	Memphis	−1.9	43	43.2	40.7	14	33%	12%	58%	+1.1
104	Jack Ansell	Purdue	−2.0	60	40.7	38.7	20	33%	10%	47%	−1.0
105	Robert Cole	Troy	−2.0	48	42.1	40.2	11	23%	11%	41%	−1.8
106	Blake Ochsendorf	Louisiana Tech	−2.0	53	45.7	43.6	18	35%	10%	52%	+5.0
107	Alex Weir	San José State	−2.2	42	41.6	38.7	17	40%	14%	54%	−0.7
108	Clayton Stewart	Wyoming	−2.5	57	42.8	40.5	16	28%	11%	38%	−2.3
109	Jack Stonehouse	Syracuse	−2.5	52	46.5	42.5	20	38%	10%	41%	+1.9
110	George Caratan	UConn	−2.5	61	44.2	42.3	22	37%	10%	31%	+2.1
111	Jadon Cardell	Sam Houston	−2.6	75	40.9	38.6	23	31%	9%	35%	−2.6
112	James Evans	Indiana	−2.6	57	45.8	42.7	18	32%	11%	38%	+8.9
113	Jeremy Crawshaw	Florida	−2.9	42	48.9	46.0	16	38%	12%	37%	+12.2
114	Caleb Junko	Pittsburgh	−2.9	62	42.3	39.3	18	31%	12%	24%	−1.9
115	Tyler Perkins	Iowa State	−2.9	58	44.3	41.2	26	45%	12%	28%	+10.3
116	Daniel Sparks	Virginia	−3.0	64	42.9	37.2	17	26%	11%	34%	−9.9
117	Austin McNamara	Texas Tech	−3.1	50	46.5	43.1	22	44%	12%	44%	+8.9
118	James Burnip	Alabama	−3.3	50	47.2	42.2	21	42%	14%	36%	+13.8
119	Jake Walrath	Central Michigan	−3.7	62	43.2	39.5	16	26%	11%	38%	−2.9
120	Marshall Nichols	UNLV	−3.7	48	45.8	42.7	18	39%	13%	52%	+6.8
121	James Ferguson-Reynolds	Boise State	−4.7	51	49.6	44.8	25	49%	16%	10%	+11.3
122	Riley Riethman	Navy	−4.7	80	44.8	42.1	22	28%	13%	40%	+7.8
123	Grant Gonya	Charlotte	−5.1	60	44.5	40.7	17	28%	15%	25%	−11.0

All 2023 College punter rankings

Touchbacks Avoided (STOP Rank) in other seasons: 2026 2025 2024 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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