2024 College Punts Returned Leaders

Punts the receiving team fielded and ran back, including muffs. Fewer returns mean the punter and coverage team gave the returner less to work with.

Compare with return yards allowed. In 2024, Jacob Ulrich (32) led college football punters in punts returned, ahead of Riley Riethman (28) and Alex Mastromanno (25). 162 punters qualify.

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

Rk	Player	Team	Returns	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Jacob Ulrich	Kennesaw State	32	75	46.0	39.9	33	44%	7%	27%	+10.0
2	Riley Riethman	Navy	28	52	45.7	39.5	23	44%	8%	24%	+6.3
3	Alex Mastromanno	Florida State	25	57	48.6	45.0	22	39%	4%	32%	+22.6
4	Bryce Lofton	Southern Miss	24	61	44.5	41.2	15	25%	5%	38%	+5.9
5	Jadon Cardell	Sam Houston	23	59	40.9	37.8	20	34%	7%	29%	−5.0
6	Connor Stutz	UConn	23	58	43.1	39.7	18	33%	7%	19%	+2.2
7	Caleb Junko	Pittsburgh	23	53	43.8	41.2	15	28%	4%	26%	+1.3
8	George Eberle	New Mexico State	22	62	44.7	39.4	22	36%	5%	28%	−2.7
9	James Allen	Georgia State	22	51	44.5	34.8	13	26%	8%	22%	−16.2
10	David Shanahan	Georgia Tech	22	46	43.3	37.2	17	37%	9%	14%	−4.2
11	Daniel Sparks	Virginia	21	57	44.6	42.2	18	32%	5%	38%	+14.7
12	CJ Kolodziey	Massachusetts	21	56	41.0	37.1	13	24%	9%	20%	−10.6
13	Angus Davies	Tulsa	20	68	43.0	38.1	19	28%	4%	24%	−12.1
14	Luke Elzinga	Oklahoma	20	57	45.2	42.4	24	44%	4%	34%	+13.0
15	Josh Smith	Kent State	19	83	41.8	37.6	30	39%	1%	45%	−10.9
16	Jack Bouwmeester	Utah	19	60	44.7	39.9	25	41%	7%	37%	+3.4
17	Adam Jacklin	UTEP	19	58	39.4	37.4	13	22%	0%	31%	−13.7
18	David Chapeau	Central Michigan	19	55	41.8	37.4	15	27%	5%	33%	−9.9
19	Mark Vassett	Colorado	19	49	43.8	38.0	18	37%	4%	28%	−6.5
20	Logan Lupo	Florida Atlantic	19	47	44.5	40.3	13	27%	9%	27%	+1.3
21	Ryan Eckley	Michigan State	19	43	47.9	40.7	8	19%	10%	15%	−2.1
22	Jack Culbreath	Wyoming	18	66	40.4	38.2	27	41%	3%	41%	−1.4
23	Keelan Crimmins	Purdue	18	64	44.9	41.8	19	30%	3%	41%	+2.7
24	Daton Montiel	Florida International	18	57	39.4	36.4	19	33%	7%	38%	−5.9
25	Peter Moore	Virginia Tech	18	54	45.1	41.4	20	38%	8%	40%	+8.6
26	Grant Chadwick	Middle Tennessee	18	51	43.6	41.0	22	43%	2%	43%	+1.0
27	Patrick Foley	UAB	18	39	43.3	36.6	10	25%	8%	22%	−3.6
28	Kade Reynoldson	Duke	17	70	43.8	41.1	28	40%	9%	45%	+9.4
29	Aidan Swanson	Clemson	17	53	41.5	39.3	19	36%	4%	46%	−0.4
30	Atticus Bertrams	Wisconsin	17	55	45.3	42.6	18	34%	6%	31%	+8.2
31	Lucas Borrow	Hawai'i	17	48	45.5	41.5	15	32%	2%	18%	+4.1
32	Palmer Williams	Baylor	17	41	49.6	44.9	17	43%	13%	13%	+16.7
33	James Rendell	Notre Dame	17	37	41.9	39.8	16	43%	0%	26%	+3.3
34	Liam Dougherty	Houston	16	57	41.9	39.1	20	35%	9%	39%	+1.5
35	Tyler Pastula	San Diego State	16	58	46.1	40.7	20	35%	14%	30%	+4.4
36	Jack Wilson	Ohio	16	55	41.0	37.1	19	35%	2%	33%	−12.5
37	Cole Maynard	Western Kentucky	16	49	42.9	39.6	19	39%	4%	37%	+1.4
38	Luke Akers	Northwestern	16	41	43.1	39.7	16	40%	3%	42%	+0.9
39	Ethan Duane	Buffalo	15	63	42.2	40.0	20	32%	0%	44%	+0.2
40	Bryce McFerson	Maryland	15	52	45.1	41.9	25	48%	6%	41%	+3.6
41	Brian Cooey Jr.	Ball State	15	48	41.5	36.2	19	39%	8%	31%	−5.9
42	Jackson Ross	Tennessee	15	46	44.4	40.4	22	48%	7%	33%	+6.0
43	Mason Fletcher	Cincinnati	15	42	42.6	38.0	12	29%	10%	32%	−6.2
44	Jesse Mirco	Vanderbilt	14	47	48.0	42.8	20	43%	11%	19%	+11.6
45	Brian Buschini	Nebraska	14	44	44.7	36.7	17	39%	5%	41%	−5.0
46	Aidan Flintoft	Stanford	14	43	42.9	39.3	19	44%	0%	25%	−2.1
47	Isaac Pearson	SMU	14	40	44.1	37.2	11	28%	15%	18%	−10.7
48	Josh Green	Oregon State	14	33	47.2	41.8	16	48%	9%	29%	+6.2
49	Avery Book	Akron	13	65	43.4	40.4	24	37%	3%	15%	+1.0
50	Jeremy Crawshaw	Florida	13	56	45.9	43.2	25	45%	7%	36%	+18.3
51	Ryan Heicher	Arkansas State	13	54	42.9	39.4	22	41%	4%	55%	−1.5
52	Alec Bevelhimer	Miami (OH)	13	55	41.1	40.2	25	47%	0%	53%	+8.6
53	Mark Crawford	Minnesota	13	50	43.3	41.1	17	35%	2%	29%	−0.4
54	Lachlan Wilson	California	13	51	45.0	40.2	18	38%	15%	32%	+3.4
55	Mitchell Tomasek	Eastern Michigan	13	47	41.4	39.2	15	33%	7%	22%	+1.1
56	Ryan Hanson	James Madison	13	45	43.0	38.8	18	39%	9%	23%	+0.8
57	Nick Barr-Mira	Mississippi State	13	44	44.6	41.6	21	48%	0%	35%	+4.3
58	Aaron Rodriguez	New Mexico	13	41	42.7	36.2	20	51%	8%	17%	+0.2
59	Brody Richter	UCLA	13	40	42.8	38.9	15	38%	8%	37%	−5.0
60	Michael Salgado-Medina	Arizona	13	39	43.3	39.1	17	44%	5%	41%	+2.0
61	Patrick Rea	Louisiana Tech	12	64	39.4	35.8	23	36%	11%	38%	−9.7
62	Andrew Stokes	South Florida	12	62	44.9	42.6	25	40%	6%	22%	+14.5
63	Alex Smith	Georgia Southern	12	54	42.8	41.9	20	38%	0%	59%	+8.0
64	Caile Hogan	UTSA	12	53	40.8	40.0	21	40%	2%	46%	−2.6
65	Emilio Duran	Toledo	12	52	42.0	40.0	23	46%	6%	32%	+8.8
66	Kai Kroeger	South Carolina	12	45	47.6	42.6	20	45%	14%	39%	+10.7
67	Paddy Turner	Colorado State	12	44	40.4	40.0	20	45%	0%	17%	−1.7
68	Simon McClannan	Kansas State	12	43	42.0	37.5	16	37%	5%	40%	−8.1
69	Eddie Czaplicki	USC	12	40	48.5	45.8	26	65%	3%	35%	+18.0
70	Trent Carrizosa	San José State	12	38	41.9	39.9	9	24%	5%	37%	−1.5
71	Jack McCallister	Washington	12	36	44.0	36.5	14	38%	6%	26%	−8.3
72	Seamus Hall	Old Dominion	11	61	41.6	38.1	21	34%	11%	45%	−2.3
73	Alex Bacchetta	Rice	11	50	41.2	37.7	13	26%	6%	49%	−9.4
74	Luke Larsen	East Carolina	11	51	40.9	38.6	19	38%	4%	49%	−3.7
75	Jack Dawson	Jacksonville State	11	48	42.1	40.3	18	38%	4%	55%	−0.4
76	Marshall Nichols	UNLV	11	44	44.9	39.5	19	42%	18%	17%	+3.6
77	Jack Burgess	Texas Tech	11	43	42.1	37.6	17	40%	5%	49%	−5.8
78	James Ferguson-Reynolds	Boise State	11	39	43.8	38.0	17	44%	8%	35%	−3.0
79	Fraser Masin	Ole Miss	11	34	46.2	43.9	17	50%	3%	42%	+10.6
80	Jack Stonehouse	Syracuse	11	32	45.9	40.2	11	35%	10%	27%	+0.7
81	Makenzie Ryan	UL Monroe	10	58	39.2	37.0	18	32%	7%	38%	−8.8
82	Clay Lawrence	Fresno State	10	55	40.7	37.4	21	38%	7%	53%	−3.8
83	Ivan Mora	Wake Forest	10	52	43.0	41.0	23	44%	4%	45%	+7.8
84	Emile Sebafundi	Coastal Carolina	10	47	40.4	38.7	19	40%	2%	46%	−2.1
85	Caden Noonkester	NC State	10	46	43.3	39.8	17	38%	4%	48%	+3.2
86	Stephen Kotsanlee	Utah State	10	48	42.6	41.0	12	27%	2%	47%	−2.3
87	Tom Maginness	North Carolina	10	45	41.5	37.8	12	28%	2%	44%	−3.4
88	Tyler Perkins	Iowa State	10	34	45.0	42.1	10	29%	6%	37%	+6.1
89	Aidan Laros	Kentucky	10	32	43.8	41.9	12	38%	9%	31%	+3.0
90	Conner Maynard	App State	10	29	41.4	37.0	11	38%	7%	22%	−5.3
91	Dante Atton	Temple	9	75	40.5	39.5	27	36%	1%	46%	+1.4
92	Michael O'Shaughnessy	Charlotte	9	53	43.0	40.1	16	31%	8%	44%	−6.0
93	Tommy Doman	Michigan	9	49	42.6	39.2	16	33%	6%	46%	−3.3
94	Joshua Sloan	Memphis	9	45	43.4	41.4	17	38%	4%	50%	+4.2
95	Luke Bauer	Missouri	9	44	41.5	38.3	14	32%	9%	38%	−0.1
96	Brett Thorson	Georgia	9	42	47.6	44.0	23	55%	12%	33%	+14.1
97	Devin Bale	Arkansas	9	37	44.9	42.4	12	32%	5%	26%	+9.6
98	Dylan Joyce	Miami	9	25	42.7	38.1	10	40%	4%	24%	+0.9
99	James Burnip	Alabama	8	48	44.9	43.7	22	47%	6%	43%	+11.9
100	Will Karoll	Tulane	8	37	43.2	39.9	11	30%	5%	48%	+3.3
101	Hudson Kaak	Oklahoma State	8	31	43.1	40.9	12	35%	12%	45%	+3.6
102	Oliver Straw	West Virginia	8	33	43.7	41.1	17	52%	6%	26%	+6.8
103	Damon Greaves	Kansas	8	33	42.4	38.5	6	19%	6%	32%	−4.4
104	Michael Kern	Texas	8	31	40.5	37.1	7	23%	6%	53%	−3.8
105	James Evans	Indiana	8	30	44.2	42.8	12	41%	0%	35%	+5.7
106	James Wagenseller	Army	8	24	41.7	38.8	9	39%	0%	43%	−1.6
107	Alec Clark	Marshall	7	55	42.4	38.2	20	38%	13%	40%	−1.2
108	Guy Gillespie	Nevada	7	46	40.3	38.2	21	46%	7%	36%	−1.0
109	Aleksi Pulkkinen	South Alabama	7	44	40.5	39.5	16	36%	5%	51%	−4.3
110	Oscar Chapman	Auburn	7	41	42.5	40.8	13	33%	3%	55%	+0.8
111	Max Morgan	Liberty	7	37	43.1	39.7	14	38%	11%	48%	+1.5
112	Luke Freer	Air Force	7	31	47.5	41.4	12	43%	11%	22%	+0.9
113	Rhys Dakin	Iowa	6	60	44.2	41.2	30	51%	8%	50%	+9.0
114	Ryan Millmore	Western Michigan	6	49	40.3	39.0	23	48%	0%	55%	−4.9
115	Jakob Anderson	Rutgers	6	46	42.4	38.8	17	40%	7%	56%	−1.6
116	Riley Thompson	Penn State	6	36	42.9	41.2	15	42%	6%	61%	+3.5
117	Sam Vander Haar	BYU	6	33	42.9	41.0	15	45%	3%	56%	+7.2
118	Joe McGuire	Ohio State	6	32	42.3	40.6	12	38%	3%	64%	0.0
119	Brady Hodges	Louisville	6	23	39.5	36.6	9	39%	9%	40%	−1.6
120	Dean Janikowski	Washington State	6	26	42.7	38.3	6	26%	9%	50%	+0.8
121	Hunter Renner	Northwestern	6	16	43.1	37.3	4	25%	13%	36%	−2.1
122	Mitchell Lake	App State	6	11	38.2	34.2	4	36%	0%	27%	−3.5
123	Robert Cole	Troy	5	44	36.9	35.3	12	27%	2%	52%	−14.8
124	Sawyer Evans	North Texas	5	44	41.0	40.3	12	28%	2%	63%	−0.9
125	Mitch McCarthy	UCF	5	40	44.1	40.7	18	45%	5%	70%	+1.6
126	Ethan Craw	TCU	5	39	42.3	38.6	18	46%	8%	54%	−1.3
127	Hugh Robertson	Illinois	5	37	40.8	37.8	19	50%	8%	50%	−5.1
128	Ivan Zivenko	Boston College	5	25	37.1	36.5	9	38%	0%	42%	−4.7
129	Peyton Todd	LSU	5	18	41.6	40.6	6	33%	0%	53%	+1.2
130	John Henderson	Bowling Green	4	48	40.8	40.3	24	50%	2%	53%	+2.3
131	Kanyon Floyd	Arizona State	4	36	40.6	37.0	12	36%	9%	50%	−1.5
132	Ross James	Oregon	4	33	46.5	41.2	9	27%	18%	35%	+3.7
133	Carson Bay	Air Force	4	13	40.0	34.5	5	33%	20%	31%	−2.8
134	Ian Ratliff	Texas	4	8	44.0	34.0	1	13%	25%	13%	−3.6
135	Tyler White	Texas A&M	3	42	45.1	41.9	24	57%	14%	57%	+10.4
136	Nathan Torney	Louisiana	3	30	39.5	39.3	8	27%	0%	50%	−1.6
137	Blake Ochsendorf	LSU	3	12	40.2	36.4	7	58%	8%	45%	−2.1
138	Bryan Hansen	Colorado State	3	9	41.1	38.7	6	67%	0%	14%	+1.0
139	Ian Brandt	Old Dominion	3	7	35.0	35.0	1	14%	0%	33%	−2.1
140	Tom Foley	Northern Illinois	2	38	38.5	36.7	13	34%	8%	64%	−8.7
141	Wes Pahl	Oklahoma State	2	24	46.6	42.0	4	19%	10%	57%	+3.2
142	Liam Connor	Boston College	2	14	36.3	35.4	4	29%	0%	36%	−5.4
143	Carter Schwartz	Louisville	2	12	40.2	37.8	3	25%	8%	18%	−1.5
144	Dino Beslagic	San José State	2	12	39.6	35.9	9	75%	17%	30%	+1.7
145	Wilson Berry	Kentucky	2	12	40.3	40.0	5	42%	0%	50%	+0.1
146	Jack Martin	South Alabama	2	7	40.6	29.0	3	38%	29%	14%	−4.9
147	Jordan Forbes	Arizona	2	5	44.0	41.0	3	60%	0%	25%	+0.8
148	Landon Rehkow	BYU	2	4	33.0	28.5	0	0%	0%	0%	−3.3
149	Jace Gilbert	Iowa State	1	11	40.2	36.6	10	63%	13%	38%	+1.5
150	Conor Hunt	Rice	1	12	35.8	34.0	10	83%	8%	29%	+0.6
151	Sam Candotti	Boston College	1	9	38.6	34.4	1	11%	22%	29%	−3.4
152	Kadin Semonza	Ball State	1	6	33.7	26.0	2	33%	33%	0%	−1.0
153	Ryan Marks	Utah State	1	6	42.2	35.2	4	67%	33%	0%	+0.4
154	Taren Schive	Boise State	1	6	42.7	37.8	3	50%	17%	40%	−0.5
155	Fabrizio Pinton	Illinois	1	5	43.2	41.6	3	60%	0%	75%	+0.8
156	Tyler Loop	Arizona	1	4	41.8	24.0	3	75%	0%	0%	−4.5
157	Cole Snyder	Eastern Michigan	1	3	46.0	43.3	1	33%	0%	0%	+0.5
158	Jack Smith	Clemson	1	3	38.0	34.3	2	67%	0%	67%	−1.3
159	Joe Bowman	UTEP	1	3	26.0	20.0	0	0%	0%	0%	−4.2
160	Trey Turk	Middle Tennessee	1	3	40.7	35.0	1	33%	0%	33%	−0.6
161	Noah Grant	UAB	1	2	51.5	46.5	0	0%	0%	0%	+1.7
162	Jalon Daniels	Kansas	1	1	26.0	26.0	0	0%	0%	0%	−1.3

All 2024 College punter rankings

Punts Returned in other seasons: 2026 2025 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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