2024 College Fair Catch Percentage Leaders

The share of a punter's punts that the returner fair caught instead of running back. Public play-by-play does not record hang time, so the fair-catch rate is the best available stand-in: a punt that hangs long enough for the coverage team to arrive leaves the returner no choice but to wave for a fair catch.

Higher usually means better hang time, though a returner who is no threat also calls for more fair catches. College punts whose play text does not say how they ended are left out of the count. In 2024, Mitch McCarthy (70.0%) led college football punters in fair catch percentage, ahead of Tom Foley (64.3%) and Joe McGuire (64.3%). 124 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had 38.3%.

Final 2024 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	FC %	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	Points
1	Mitch McCarthy	UCF	70.0%	40	44.1	40.7	18	45%	5%	+1.6
2	Tom Foley	Northern Illinois	64.3%	38	38.5	36.7	13	34%	8%	−8.7
3	Joe McGuire	Ohio State	64.3%	32	42.3	40.6	12	38%	3%	0.0
4	Sawyer Evans	North Texas	63.3%	44	41.0	40.3	12	28%	2%	−0.9
5	Riley Thompson	Penn State	61.3%	36	42.9	41.2	15	42%	6%	+3.5
6	Alex Smith	Georgia Southern	59.2%	54	42.8	41.9	20	38%	0%	+8.0
7	Tyler White	Texas A&M	57.1%	42	45.1	41.9	24	57%	14%	+10.4
8	Jakob Anderson	Rutgers	55.6%	46	42.4	38.8	17	40%	7%	−1.6
9	Sam Vander Haar	BYU	55.6%	33	42.9	41.0	15	45%	3%	+7.2
10	Ryan Millmore	Western Michigan	54.8%	49	40.3	39.0	23	48%	0%	−4.9
11	Ryan Heicher	Arkansas State	54.5%	54	42.9	39.4	22	41%	4%	−1.5
12	Jack Dawson	Jacksonville State	54.5%	48	42.1	40.3	18	38%	4%	−0.4
13	Oscar Chapman	Auburn	54.5%	41	42.5	40.8	13	33%	3%	+0.8
14	Ethan Craw	TCU	54.1%	39	42.3	38.6	18	46%	8%	−1.3
15	Michael Kern	Texas	53.3%	31	40.5	37.1	7	23%	6%	−3.8
16	John Henderson	Bowling Green	53.1%	48	40.8	40.3	24	50%	2%	+2.3
17	Clay Lawrence	Fresno State	53.1%	55	40.7	37.4	21	38%	7%	−3.8
18	Alec Bevelhimer	Miami (OH)	52.5%	55	41.1	40.2	25	47%	0%	+8.6
19	Robert Cole	Troy	51.6%	44	36.9	35.3	12	27%	2%	−14.8
20	Aleksi Pulkkinen	South Alabama	51.3%	44	40.5	39.5	16	36%	5%	−4.3
21	Rhys Dakin	Iowa	50.0%	60	44.2	41.2	30	51%	8%	+9.0
22	Joshua Sloan	Memphis	50.0%	45	43.4	41.4	17	38%	4%	+4.2
23	Hugh Robertson	Illinois	50.0%	37	40.8	37.8	19	50%	8%	−5.1
24	Kanyon Floyd	Arizona State	50.0%	36	40.6	37.0	12	36%	9%	−1.5
25	Nathan Torney	Louisiana	50.0%	30	39.5	39.3	8	27%	0%	−1.6
26	Luke Larsen	East Carolina	48.8%	51	40.9	38.6	19	38%	4%	−3.7
27	Alex Bacchetta	Rice	48.7%	50	41.2	37.7	13	26%	6%	−9.4
28	Jack Burgess	Texas Tech	48.6%	43	42.1	37.6	17	40%	5%	−5.8
29	Caden Noonkester	NC State	48.5%	46	43.3	39.8	17	38%	4%	+3.2
30	Will Karoll	Tulane	48.5%	37	43.2	39.9	11	30%	5%	+3.3
31	Max Morgan	Liberty	48.4%	37	43.1	39.7	14	38%	11%	+1.5
32	Stephen Kotsanlee	Utah State	46.7%	48	42.6	41.0	12	27%	2%	−2.3
33	Caile Hogan	UTSA	46.3%	53	40.8	40.0	21	40%	2%	−2.6
34	Dante Atton	Temple	46.3%	75	40.5	39.5	27	36%	1%	+1.4
35	Aidan Swanson	Clemson	46.2%	53	41.5	39.3	19	36%	4%	−0.4
36	Tommy Doman	Michigan	46.2%	49	42.6	39.2	16	33%	6%	−3.3
37	Emile Sebafundi	Coastal Carolina	46.2%	47	40.4	38.7	19	40%	2%	−2.1
38	Ivan Mora	Wake Forest	45.5%	52	43.0	41.0	23	44%	4%	+7.8
39	Hudson Kaak	Oklahoma State	45.2%	31	43.1	40.9	12	35%	12%	+3.6
40	Kade Reynoldson	Duke	45.0%	70	43.8	41.1	28	40%	9%	+9.4
41	Josh Smith	Kent State	44.9%	83	41.8	37.6	30	39%	1%	−10.9
42	Seamus Hall	Old Dominion	44.9%	61	41.6	38.1	21	34%	11%	−2.3
43	Michael O'Shaughnessy	Charlotte	44.4%	53	43.0	40.1	16	31%	8%	−6.0
44	Ethan Duane	Buffalo	43.8%	63	42.2	40.0	20	32%	0%	+0.2
45	Tom Maginness	North Carolina	43.8%	45	41.5	37.8	12	28%	2%	−3.4
46	Grant Chadwick	Middle Tennessee	42.5%	51	43.6	41.0	22	43%	2%	+1.0
47	James Burnip	Alabama	42.5%	48	44.9	43.7	22	47%	6%	+11.9
48	Fraser Masin	Ole Miss	41.9%	34	46.2	43.9	17	50%	3%	+10.6
49	Luke Akers	Northwestern	41.7%	41	43.1	39.7	16	40%	3%	+0.9
50	Jack Culbreath	Wyoming	41.2%	66	40.4	38.2	27	41%	3%	−1.4
51	Michael Salgado-Medina	Arizona	41.2%	39	43.3	39.1	17	44%	5%	+2.0
52	Bryce McFerson	Maryland	40.9%	52	45.1	41.9	25	48%	6%	+3.6
53	Keelan Crimmins	Purdue	40.7%	64	44.9	41.8	19	30%	3%	+2.7
54	Brian Buschini	Nebraska	40.5%	44	44.7	36.7	17	39%	5%	−5.0
55	Alec Clark	Marshall	40.0%	55	42.4	38.2	20	38%	13%	−1.2
56	Simon McClannan	Kansas State	40.0%	43	42.0	37.5	16	37%	5%	−8.1
57	Peter Moore	Virginia Tech	39.6%	54	45.1	41.4	20	38%	8%	+8.6
58	Kai Kroeger	South Carolina	38.9%	45	47.6	42.6	20	45%	14%	+10.7
59	Liam Dougherty	Houston	38.8%	57	41.9	39.1	20	35%	9%	+1.5
60	Daniel Sparks	Virginia	38.5%	57	44.6	42.2	18	32%	5%	+14.7
61	Makenzie Ryan	UL Monroe	38.5%	58	39.2	37.0	18	32%	7%	−8.8
62	Daton Montiel	Florida International	38.3%	57	39.4	36.4	19	33%	7%	−5.9
63	Luke Bauer	Missouri	38.2%	44	41.5	38.3	14	32%	9%	−0.1
64	Bryce Lofton	Southern Miss	37.7%	61	44.5	41.2	15	25%	5%	+5.9
65	Patrick Rea	Louisiana Tech	37.5%	64	39.4	35.8	23	36%	11%	−9.7
66	Brody Richter	UCLA	37.1%	40	42.8	38.9	15	38%	8%	−5.0
67	Trent Carrizosa	San José State	37.1%	38	41.9	39.9	9	24%	5%	−1.5
68	Tyler Perkins	Iowa State	37.0%	34	45.0	42.1	10	29%	6%	+6.1
69	Cole Maynard	Western Kentucky	36.6%	49	42.9	39.6	19	39%	4%	+1.4
70	Jack Bouwmeester	Utah	36.5%	60	44.7	39.9	25	41%	7%	+3.4
71	Jeremy Crawshaw	Florida	36.2%	56	45.9	43.2	25	45%	7%	+18.3
72	Guy Gillespie	Nevada	36.1%	46	40.3	38.2	21	46%	7%	−1.0
73	Eddie Czaplicki	USC	35.3%	40	48.5	45.8	26	65%	3%	+18.0
74	James Ferguson-Reynolds	Boise State	35.3%	39	43.8	38.0	17	44%	8%	−3.0
75	Nick Barr-Mira	Mississippi State	35.1%	44	44.6	41.6	21	48%	0%	+4.3
76	Ross James	Oregon	34.6%	33	46.5	41.2	9	27%	18%	+3.7
77	Luke Elzinga	Oklahoma	34.0%	57	45.2	42.4	24	44%	4%	+13.0
78	Jack Wilson	Ohio	33.3%	55	41.0	37.1	19	35%	2%	−12.5
79	Brett Thorson	Georgia	33.3%	42	47.6	44.0	23	55%	12%	+14.1
80	David Chapeau	Central Michigan	32.6%	55	41.8	37.4	15	27%	5%	−9.9
81	Jackson Ross	Tennessee	32.5%	46	44.4	40.4	22	48%	7%	+6.0
82	Emilio Duran	Toledo	32.4%	52	42.0	40.0	23	46%	6%	+8.8
83	Lachlan Wilson	California	32.4%	51	45.0	40.2	18	38%	15%	+3.4
84	Alex Mastromanno	Florida State	32.0%	57	48.6	45.0	22	39%	4%	+22.6
85	Damon Greaves	Kansas	32.0%	33	42.4	38.5	6	19%	6%	−4.4
86	Mason Fletcher	Cincinnati	31.6%	42	42.6	38.0	12	29%	10%	−6.2
87	Atticus Bertrams	Wisconsin	31.1%	55	45.3	42.6	18	34%	6%	+8.2
88	Adam Jacklin	UTEP	31.0%	58	39.4	37.4	13	22%	0%	−13.7
89	Brian Cooey Jr.	Ball State	30.8%	48	41.5	36.2	19	39%	8%	−5.9
90	Aidan Laros	Kentucky	30.8%	32	43.8	41.9	12	38%	9%	+3.0
91	Tyler Pastula	San Diego State	29.8%	58	46.1	40.7	20	35%	14%	+4.4
92	Mark Crawford	Minnesota	29.3%	50	43.3	41.1	17	35%	2%	−0.4
93	Josh Green	Oregon State	29.0%	33	47.2	41.8	16	48%	9%	+6.2
94	Jadon Cardell	Sam Houston	28.8%	59	40.9	37.8	20	34%	7%	−5.0
95	George Eberle	New Mexico State	28.3%	62	44.7	39.4	22	36%	5%	−2.7
96	Mark Vassett	Colorado	27.5%	49	43.8	38.0	18	37%	4%	−6.5
97	Jacob Ulrich	Kennesaw State	27.3%	75	46.0	39.9	33	44%	7%	+10.0
98	Jack Stonehouse	Syracuse	26.9%	32	45.9	40.2	11	35%	10%	+0.7
99	Logan Lupo	Florida Atlantic	26.7%	47	44.5	40.3	13	27%	9%	+1.3
100	Jack McCallister	Washington	26.5%	36	44.0	36.5	14	38%	6%	−8.3
101	James Rendell	Notre Dame	26.5%	37	41.9	39.8	16	43%	0%	+3.3
102	Caleb Junko	Pittsburgh	26.1%	53	43.8	41.2	15	28%	4%	+1.3
103	Oliver Straw	West Virginia	26.1%	33	43.7	41.1	17	52%	6%	+6.8
104	Devin Bale	Arkansas	25.8%	37	44.9	42.4	12	32%	5%	+9.6
105	Aidan Flintoft	Stanford	25.0%	43	42.9	39.3	19	44%	0%	−2.1
106	Riley Riethman	Navy	24.4%	52	45.7	39.5	23	44%	8%	+6.3
107	Angus Davies	Tulsa	23.5%	68	43.0	38.1	19	28%	4%	−12.1
108	Ryan Hanson	James Madison	23.1%	45	43.0	38.8	18	39%	9%	+0.8
109	James Allen	Georgia State	22.2%	51	44.5	34.8	13	26%	8%	−16.2
110	Patrick Foley	UAB	21.9%	39	43.3	36.6	10	25%	8%	−3.6
111	Mitchell Tomasek	Eastern Michigan	21.6%	47	41.4	39.2	15	33%	7%	+1.1
112	Andrew Stokes	South Florida	21.6%	62	44.9	42.6	25	40%	6%	+14.5
113	CJ Kolodziey	Massachusetts	19.6%	56	41.0	37.1	13	24%	9%	−10.6
114	Connor Stutz	UConn	19.1%	58	43.1	39.7	18	33%	7%	+2.2
115	Jesse Mirco	Vanderbilt	19.0%	47	48.0	42.8	20	43%	11%	+11.6
116	Lucas Borrow	Hawai'i	18.4%	48	45.5	41.5	15	32%	2%	+4.1
117	Isaac Pearson	SMU	18.2%	40	44.1	37.2	11	28%	15%	−10.7
118	Aaron Rodriguez	New Mexico	17.2%	41	42.7	36.2	20	51%	8%	+0.2
119	Marshall Nichols	UNLV	17.1%	44	44.9	39.5	19	42%	18%	+3.6
120	Paddy Turner	Colorado State	16.7%	44	40.4	40.0	20	45%	0%	−1.7
121	Avery Book	Akron	14.7%	65	43.4	40.4	24	37%	3%	+1.0
122	Ryan Eckley	Michigan State	14.7%	43	47.9	40.7	8	19%	10%	−2.1
123	David Shanahan	Georgia Tech	14.3%	46	43.3	37.2	17	37%	9%	−4.2
124	Palmer Williams	Baylor	12.5%	41	49.6	44.9	17	43%	13%	+16.7

All 2024 College punter rankings

Fair Catch Percentage in other seasons: 2026 2025 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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