Johnston on Ray Guy Award Watch List – Ohio State Buckeyes
7/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
July 9, 2015
| Junior Cameron Johnston averaged a B1G-best 45.1 yards off 48 punts in 2014. |
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State junior punter Cameron Johnston has been named to the Ray Guy Award watch list, which honors the nation’s top collegiate punter. The watch list was announced Thursday by the Augusta Sports Council.
Johnston, a semifinalist for the award in 2014, had an outstanding season last year, averaging a Big Ten-best 45.1 yards per punt on 48 attempts while helping the team lead the Big Ten in net punting average at 41.8. His average would have been in the Top 10 nationally, but Johnston did not have the NCAA minimum of 3.6 punts per game to qualify. Unofficially, Johnston ranked second nationally in both percentage of punts downed I20 (54.1 pct.; 26 of 48) and those downed I10 (31.2 pct.; 15 of 48). A native of Geelong, Australia, Johnston produced four games with over a 50-yard punting average, including a Big Ten championship game record average of 53.0 yards-per-punt while booting a Big Ten title game record 73-yard punt vs. the Badgers.
Cameron Johnston has been outstanding in his two seasons as Ohio State’s punter. He has the third-best career punting average in school history – 44.5 yards – and also owns the third-most punts downed inside the 20 in school history (57). His placement has been particularly impressive, as he has ranked among the nation’s leaders each year in percentage of punts downed I20 – first in 2013 and second in 2014 – and unofficially inside the 10 – first in 2013 and second in 2014. As a result, Ohio State’s net punting average has been Top 5 in each of the past two seasons
The Augusta Sports Council created the Ray Guy Award in 2000 to honor Thomson, Georgia native and College and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, Ray Guy. The Ray Guy Award winner is determined by a national voting body of sports writers, college coaches, sports information directors, and past Ray Guy Award winners. Among the statistics used to identify the winner is net punting average, number of times a punt is downed or kicked out of bounds inside the opponents 20-yard line, total yardage punted, average returned yardage, and percentage of punts not returned. The winner must display team leadership, self-discipline, and have a positive impact on the team’s success.
The winner of the Ray Guy Award will be announced live during The Home Depot College Football Awards airing on ESPN on Thursday, December 10, 2015.
