2025 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 2025, Cal Joseph (+3.3) led college football punters in touchbacks avoided (STOP rank), ahead of Tom Maginness (+3.0) and Dante Atton (+2.9). 124 punters qualify (minimum 30 punts). The median qualified punter had +0.1.

Final 2025 regular-season numbers, updated October 23, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	STOP	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Cal Joseph	Wake Forest	+3.3	57	38.1	35.1	20	35%	4%	60%	−13.9
2	Tom Maginness	North Carolina	+3.0	56	42.7	39.8	21	38%	2%	47%	+2.8
3	Dante Atton	Temple	+2.9	62	42.2	41.4	26	43%	2%	80%	+5.7
4	Angus Davies	Tulsa	+2.7	46	43.3	41.6	21	43%	0%	42%	+0.3
5	Archie Wilson	Nebraska	+2.6	32	38.9	37.6	14	44%	3%	48%	−1.8
6	Jack McCallister	Purdue	+2.1	50	43.2	40.8	24	48%	4%	44%	+6.5
7	Blake Doud	Alabama	+2.0	41	42.9	38.8	15	36%	2%	49%	−0.4
8	Pierse Stainton	Miami (OH)	+2.0	59	41.9	40.0	25	43%	3%	60%	+11.1
9	Brenden Lach	Delaware	+2.0	42	39.5	35.6	15	35%	2%	47%	−7.4
10	Curtis Gerrand	Sam Houston	+2.0	64	43.0	40.4	23	37%	3%	56%	+2.5
11	Tom Weston	Minnesota	+1.9	59	42.8	39.5	19	33%	5%	31%	+1.4
12	Nick Verdugo	Fresno State	+1.8	47	40.6	39.6	16	33%	2%	74%	+7.7
13	Billy Gowers	Hawai'i	+1.8	46	46.4	41.4	24	52%	4%	37%	+2.6
14	Sam Vander Haar	BYU	+1.7	38	42.5	38.8	16	43%	3%	61%	+0.4
15	Atticus Bertrams	Wisconsin	+1.7	35	41.8	35.9	17	44%	5%	14%	−5.6
16	Joshua Huiet	Kennesaw State	+1.7	57	41.3	39.7	25	43%	4%	52%	+1.0
17	Hudson Kaak	Auburn	+1.6	49	42.0	40.7	13	27%	2%	63%	+4.2
18	Aidan Flintoft	Stanford	+1.6	58	43.3	39.1	15	27%	2%	30%	−2.1
19	Chase Leon	South Florida	+1.5	32	43.0	39.2	15	47%	3%	44%	−2.9
20	Keegan Andrews	Massachusetts	+1.5	69	46.5	41.7	32	45%	3%	39%	+5.0
21	Tyler Perkins	Iowa State	+1.5	42	42.4	40.9	19	45%	5%	57%	+5.5
22	Conor Donaghy	Jacksonville State	+1.3	47	39.6	37.1	17	37%	4%	53%	−3.0
23	Ian Brandt	Old Dominion	+1.3	41	41.0	35.4	18	41%	7%	53%	−9.3
24	Jack Burgess	Texas Tech	+1.3	40	43.4	41.0	19	48%	5%	53%	+7.9
25	James Wagenseller	Army	+1.3	32	43.1	40.8	15	47%	6%	48%	+5.6
26	Jackson Ross	Tennessee	+1.3	37	44.3	42.2	19	51%	5%	56%	+6.9
27	David Chapeau	Louisville	+1.2	38	39.7	37.8	18	49%	8%	59%	+1.2
28	Anthony Venneri	UCF	+1.2	48	40.7	35.6	19	40%	8%	36%	−9.3
29	Ryan Harris	Washington State	+1.1	51	40.9	38.3	18	35%	6%	58%	+0.1
30	Kade Reynoldson	Duke	+1.1	39	44.5	41.1	18	45%	5%	55%	+6.9
31	Caden Noonkester	NC State	+1.1	52	43.6	39.0	23	45%	6%	48%	−1.5
32	Shamus Florio	Boston College	+1.1	49	39.7	38.3	16	31%	2%	27%	+0.8
33	Oliver Straw	West Virginia	+0.9	66	42.5	38.9	17	26%	5%	22%	−7.0
34	Oscar Bird	Ole Miss	+0.9	32	45.9	43.8	10	31%	3%	29%	+11.0
35	Finn Lappin	Kansas	+0.8	39	45.3	41.2	13	33%	3%	44%	+1.7
36	Reed Harradine	Southern Miss	+0.8	34	40.8	38.7	6	18%	3%	39%	−3.5
37	Ethan Pulliam	Mississippi State	+0.8	40	46.7	45.9	10	26%	0%	48%	+14.0
38	Jackson Waller	Arkansas State	+0.8	54	41.4	40.3	24	44%	4%	35%	+0.9
39	Will Karoll	UCLA	+0.8	44	43.5	39.2	12	27%	5%	39%	−0.5
40	Trey Wilhoit	Florida International	+0.7	50	43.5	38.6	14	28%	4%	52%	−3.1
41	Magnus Haines	Ohio	+0.7	38	42.2	39.9	16	43%	5%	46%	+1.7
42	Reed Chandley	Georgia State	+0.6	54	45.8	39.5	23	43%	4%	21%	−2.4
43	Simon McClannan	Kansas State	+0.6	48	42.5	39.5	19	40%	9%	39%	+2.4
44	Ryan Millmore	Western Michigan	+0.6	53	42.1	38.4	22	42%	10%	49%	+4.1
45	Max Dean	New Mexico State	+0.6	55	42.3	39.7	20	36%	5%	42%	−0.8
46	Ian Ratliff	App State	+0.5	54	43.9	41.1	11	20%	2%	52%	+6.0
47	Ryan Eckley	Michigan State	+0.5	49	48.5	40.8	21	42%	2%	27%	−8.0
48	Isaac Lovison	Arizona	+0.5	32	42.6	39.8	12	38%	6%	56%	−1.6
49	Max Fletcher	Cincinnati	+0.4	35	45.8	42.0	17	49%	3%	45%	−3.4
50	Emile Sebafundi	Coastal Carolina	+0.4	62	42.5	37.1	17	27%	7%	31%	−11.2
51	Jack Smith	Clemson	+0.4	45	42.1	41.1	22	49%	4%	56%	+8.3
52	Emilio Duran	Toledo	+0.4	60	40.6	37.3	23	38%	10%	47%	−5.4
53	Rhys Dakin	Iowa	+0.4	39	43.2	40.1	17	45%	8%	60%	+5.3
54	Bailey Ettridge	Nevada	+0.4	45	45.1	41.5	18	39%	4%	58%	+7.7
55	Max Morgan	Liberty	+0.3	46	41.2	38.8	14	31%	9%	53%	−4.4
56	Patrick Rea	James Madison	+0.3	43	40.7	38.9	17	40%	5%	62%	+0.1
57	Charlie Durkin	Kent State	+0.3	48	41.1	37.3	13	28%	4%	29%	−11.3
58	Jakob Anderson	Rutgers	+0.3	33	44.2	41.8	12	36%	3%	62%	+4.6
59	Aidan Laros	Kentucky	+0.3	50	44.5	38.6	20	39%	8%	51%	+2.1
60	Tyler White	Texas A&M	+0.2	44	44.4	40.9	18	41%	5%	42%	+4.0
61	Alex Smith	Georgia Southern	+0.2	54	42.6	39.6	15	28%	6%	49%	−2.3
62	Mason Love	South Carolina	+0.1	53	45.1	41.4	18	33%	8%	39%	+6.9
63	Makenzie Ryan	UL Monroe	+0.1	60	38.9	35.5	14	23%	5%	45%	−21.5
64	Adam Saul	Ball State	+0.1	70	40.7	37.4	17	24%	4%	44%	−12.8
65	Declan Duley	Central Michigan	0.0	50	40.9	36.7	18	37%	6%	59%	−6.2
66	Wade McSparron	SMU	0.0	52	42.4	39.1	16	31%	8%	45%	+2.1
67	Jake Ference	Northern Illinois	0.0	30	43.7	39.9	7	23%	3%	48%	+0.3
68	Lachlan Carrigan	Memphis	−0.1	42	43.4	41.2	20	47%	9%	67%	+7.4
69	Damon Greaves	Colorado	−0.2	64	43.7	38.3	16	25%	8%	35%	−2.6
70	Bronson Long	Charlotte	−0.2	70	42.7	38.4	19	28%	6%	48%	−5.4
71	David Nunez	Texas State	−0.2	36	40.4	38.2	12	32%	5%	58%	+0.4
72	Cam Brown	UNLV	−0.2	43	44.0	41.1	15	35%	7%	36%	−0.1
73	Hudson Hollenbeck	Michigan	−0.3	38	43.0	37.8	11	28%	8%	32%	−2.1
74	Aleksi Pulkkinen	South Alabama	−0.3	49	40.4	36.2	11	22%	6%	24%	−10.1
75	Nathan Torney	Louisiana	−0.3	50	42.1	39.4	10	20%	4%	37%	−6.7
76	Connor Weselman	Missouri	−0.4	41	41.8	39.0	14	34%	7%	55%	−0.6
77	Daniel Hughes	New Mexico	−0.4	35	45.5	42.1	11	29%	5%	41%	+7.9
78	Gabriel Nwosu	Penn State	−0.4	35	46.1	42.9	14	42%	9%	46%	+9.5
79	Evan Crenshaw	Troy	−0.4	65	45.8	41.7	32	49%	6%	30%	+5.8
80	Orion Phillips	Utah	−0.4	35	42.9	40.4	13	38%	9%	44%	+6.2
81	Kanyon Floyd	Arizona State	−0.5	36	41.4	34.5	8	22%	6%	36%	−13.7
82	Dylan Joyce	Miami	−0.5	37	44.4	40.5	19	51%	14%	43%	+4.6
83	Brett Thorson	Georgia	−0.5	42	45.2	42.7	20	49%	10%	62%	+10.1
84	Caile Hogan	UTSA	−0.6	50	44.9	39.8	15	32%	6%	35%	−3.4
85	Michael Kern	California	−0.6	38	41.6	38.7	9	24%	8%	42%	−3.7
86	Grayson Miller	Oklahoma	−0.6	54	46.2	40.3	30	58%	12%	26%	+3.5
87	Oscar Doyle	Boise State	−0.6	52	43.7	40.4	18	35%	10%	60%	+5.2
88	Patrick Foley	UAB	−0.7	30	41.6	34.2	6	19%	10%	33%	−17.6
89	Landon Rehkow	Utah State	−0.7	61	42.7	38.5	19	31%	7%	32%	−6.8
90	Tommy Doman	Florida	−0.8	50	44.0	41.1	18	38%	8%	45%	+3.0
91	Devin Bale	Arkansas	−0.8	34	45.6	39.0	14	40%	12%	35%	−0.3
92	Joseph Castle	Akron	−1.0	48	42.8	36.6	17	35%	10%	35%	−5.5
93	Grant Chadwick	LSU	−1.0	59	45.3	38.2	21	36%	8%	35%	−4.8
94	John Hoyet Chance	Louisiana Tech	−1.1	58	47.0	42.9	27	47%	9%	33%	+11.3
95	Ethan Craw	TCU	−1.1	41	41.5	38.7	14	35%	10%	39%	+0.8
96	Jacob Carlson	Navy	−1.1	32	44.6	40.3	14	44%	13%	29%	+3.9
97	Alec Clark	Tulane	−1.4	45	46.8	43.4	17	38%	9%	38%	+13.1
98	John Henderson	Bowling Green	−1.4	59	40.5	35.4	20	34%	10%	43%	−18.4
99	Daniel Sparks	Virginia	−1.6	35	47.5	37.9	14	40%	11%	19%	−0.4
100	Luke Dunne	Washington	−1.6	28	40.2	33.6	7	23%	14%	26%	−8.5
101	Marshall Nichols	Georgia Tech	−1.7	31	47.3	42.0	13	42%	10%	29%	+7.7
102	Luke Akers	Northwestern	−1.8	32	45.4	40.7	10	32%	13%	39%	+6.8
103	Nick Veltsistas	Virginia Tech	−1.8	47	45.4	37.3	18	38%	9%	36%	−7.3
104	Dylan Drennan	Buffalo	−1.8	64	44.8	41.6	26	41%	8%	21%	+7.8
105	AJ Winsor	Oregon State	−1.8	62	44.7	34.5	15	24%	8%	16%	−22.1
106	Wes Pahl	Oklahoma State	−1.9	64	46.5	42.6	21	32%	6%	36%	+1.5
107	Caleb Junko	Pittsburgh	−2.0	48	44.5	40.7	12	25%	10%	41%	+0.3
108	Liam Dougherty	Houston	−2.1	50	44.3	37.0	18	35%	14%	36%	−9.2
109	Connor Stutz	UConn	−2.1	44	45.5	41.0	23	51%	13%	45%	+7.8
110	Alex Bacchetta	Rice	−2.2	60	44.6	39.5	20	32%	8%	42%	+3.3
111	Noah Botsford	UTEP	−2.2	59	45.6	41.2	19	32%	7%	4%	+5.1
112	Ashton Logan	Middle Tennessee	−2.3	66	44.6	41.1	33	50%	11%	41%	+9.2
113	Cole Maynard	Western Kentucky	−2.4	51	48.7	42.4	14	27%	10%	33%	+3.7
114	Stewart McDonald	Missouri State	−2.5	42	42.7	36.1	13	32%	15%	29%	−11.2
115	Trent Carrizosa	San José State	−2.8	39	45.6	40.1	12	32%	13%	44%	−6.1
116	Bryce McFerson	Maryland	−2.9	56	44.2	40.4	20	36%	15%	47%	+0.5
117	Jack Bouwmeester	Texas	−2.9	55	44.7	38.4	24	43%	15%	43%	+1.5
118	Bryan Hansen	Colorado State	−3.3	57	47.9	44.1	15	26%	9%	19%	+17.4
119	Jack Stonehouse	Syracuse	−3.4	60	46.5	41.6	15	26%	10%	52%	+8.9
120	Keelan Crimmins	Illinois	−3.5	35	44.0	38.5	9	25%	17%	56%	−0.8
121	Hunter Green	San Diego State	−4.0	59	46.6	41.2	29	49%	17%	41%	+10.2
122	Mitchell Tomasek	Eastern Michigan	−4.6	48	45.1	40.8	10	20%	14%	26%	+0.1
123	Nathan Totten	Marshall	−5.1	55	44.9	40.4	26	45%	18%	47%	+10.4
124	Bart Edmiston	Wyoming	−7.1	65	46.1	38.6	25	37%	17%	20%	+3.1

All 2025 College punter rankings

Touchbacks Avoided (STOP Rank) in other seasons: 2026 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

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