2026 College Net Average in Opponent Territory Leaders

Net average counting only punts that started on the opponent's side of the 50-yard line. There is little room to work with, and every touchback costs 20 net yards, so this is the hardest place to punt well.

Only punters with enough such punts are ranked. In 2026, Harrison Tuck (38.7) led college football punters in net average in opponent territory, ahead of Brody Richter (38.3) and Gabe Russo (38.3). 42 punters qualify (minimum 6 punts from the opponent's 50 or closer). The median qualified punter had 33.7. This season is in progress (through Week 7), so the numbers change each week.

Data through Week 7 of the 2026 season, updated October 24, 2026.

Rk	Player	Team	Net (opp. 50)	Punts	Avg	Net	In 20	In 20 %	TB %	FC %	Points
1	Harrison Tuck	Memphis	38.7	30	40.8	39.2	10	36%	0%	44%	−2.0
2	Brody Richter	New Mexico State	38.3	26	40.3	38.4	10	37%	0%	60%	−1.9
3	Gabe Russo	Pittsburgh	38.3	24	44.0	42.7	9	36%	8%	36%	+4.1
4	Markus Meincke	Toledo	38.0	22	42.0	40.5	9	41%	0%	58%	+0.4
5	Jackson Ross	Tennessee	37.9	28	44.8	40.6	14	50%	7%	67%	+2.5
6	Alex Asparuhov	Alabama	37.8	23	43.1	41.3	13	59%	0%	56%	+7.2
7	Luke Goater	South Florida	36.3	24	45.5	42.5	13	54%	8%	40%	+4.9
8	Tom Weston	Minnesota	36.3	25	41.5	36.9	12	44%	0%	47%	−1.5
9	John Hoyet Chance	TCU	35.9	25	43.5	41.5	15	60%	0%	39%	+1.9
10	Josh Cupitt	Delaware	35.8	34	42.0	39.7	17	50%	0%	52%	+1.8
11	Caile Hogan	UTSA	35.3	27	41.4	37.8	10	36%	4%	33%	−3.3
12	Jake Stoeckel	Kent State	35.3	30	42.8	39.6	12	40%	7%	41%	+0.8
13	Matt Choules	UNLV	35.0	30	42.3	38.5	15	50%	7%	50%	+0.5
14	Jack Smith	Clemson	34.7	30	38.6	37.6	13	43%	0%	70%	−2.2
15	Declan Duley	Central Michigan	34.5	32	43.9	37.2	11	34%	6%	31%	0.0
16	Nathan Tiyce	Penn State	34.3	31	41.1	37.4	11	35%	13%	54%	−3.8
17	Boston Everitt	Iowa	34.3	27	43.0	41.6	17	61%	7%	59%	+4.5
18	Patrick Rea	James Madison	34.3	32	43.2	40.3	18	56%	6%	30%	+5.3
19	Angus Davies	California	34.0	32	41.0	37.6	11	35%	3%	44%	−5.5
20	Michael Kern	New Mexico	34.0	17	40.1	38.5	9	53%	6%	60%	+2.1
21	Ethan Stumpf	Buffalo	33.9	44	45.5	38.9	13	30%	14%	30%	+1.2
22	Cam Brown	Michigan	33.4	30	41.9	39.3	13	43%	7%	54%	+4.5
23	Aaron Bickerton	North Dakota State	33.3	24	45.5	37.9	9	38%	13%	22%	−1.0
24	Alex Smith	Georgia Southern	33.1	29	42.7	33.8	8	28%	10%	50%	−13.9
25	Jackson Smith	Western Kentucky	33.1	39	43.7	38.7	9	23%	10%	29%	+0.7
26	Ryan Millmore	Western Michigan	33.0	27	43.7	40.4	12	44%	7%	36%	+2.7
27	Tashi Dorje	San Diego State	32.8	36	46.1	40.0	14	39%	6%	25%	+1.1
28	Brunno Reus	Missouri	32.7	33	44.8	40.9	14	42%	18%	58%	+6.2
29	Jaxson Dunn	App State	32.6	35	41.9	40.4	12	34%	3%	32%	+3.9
30	Damon Greaves	Colorado	31.8	29	45.3	37.9	13	45%	7%	22%	−3.0
31	Sean West	Wisconsin	31.6	23	43.1	39.6	14	61%	9%	38%	+1.3
32	Nathan Totten	Virginia Tech	31.5	24	41.4	35.3	9	39%	9%	29%	−5.8
33	Trent Carrizosa	San José State	31.4	35	42.9	36.3	17	49%	9%	38%	−1.4
34	Sam Crossan	Liberty	31.4	25	40.9	37.4	11	44%	12%	55%	+1.2
35	Cal Joseph	Sam Houston	31.3	45	44.2	39.9	18	40%	9%	55%	+1.8
36	William Hudlow	Tulane	30.8	32	46.9	43.5	11	34%	16%	43%	+10.2
37	Cole Stumbaugh	Ball State	30.6	33	43.2	36.7	12	36%	6%	33%	−3.6
38	Ashton Logan	Middle Tennessee	30.5	34	49.2	38.4	12	35%	18%	21%	−1.3
39	Pierse Stainton	Miami (OH)	30.3	29	43.8	38.6	16	55%	21%	50%	+2.1
40	Billy Gowers	Indiana	30.1	20	38.5	36.9	11	55%	0%	61%	+1.7
41	Landon Rehkow	Utah State	28.8	31	42.1	38.7	15	48%	6%	48%	+4.3
42	Ryan Kingston	Bowling Green	28.8	33	40.1	32.7	11	32%	6%	24%	−9.7

All 2026 College punter rankings

Net Average in Opponent Territory in other seasons: 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

More 2026 College punter leaderboards

Other 2026 College rankings

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