AUGUSTA, Ga. - The Greater Augusta Sports Council announced today the watch list for the 2009 Ray Guy Award, which identifies the nation's top collegiate punter. Sophomore Ben Armer was one of nine selected, is the only selection from the Mid-American Conference and is one of only two sophomores to make the list.
Armer averaged 40.6 yards per punt as a redshirt freshman in 2008. He had 11 punts of 50 yards or longer and a season best 52.0 yards per punt average in a 41-20 win over Ohio on Homecoming. The Janesville, Wis., native was one of Broncos to earn a spot on the All-MAC Freshman Team according to Rivals.com. He also recorded the second-most tackles by a kicker/punter in a season with five stops. Teammate and fellow sophomore John Potter registered eight stops.
Of the nine members of the watch list, five were semifinalists for the Ray Guy Award in 2008 and only three others come from non A-Q conferences, East Carolina's Matt Dodge and Tulane's Ross Thevenot, both of whom are seniors. The only other sophomore on the list besides Armer is California's Bryan Anger.
This is the third day of national awards announcements by the Football Writers Association of America through ESPN. Western Michigan boasts a nominee on a watch list from each of the first three awards announced - Tim Hiller (Davey O'Brien), Brandon West (Doak Walker) and Ben Armer (Ray Guy).
The Greater Augusta Sports Council created the Ray Guy Award in 2000 to honor Thomson, Georgia-native and College Football Hall of Fame inductee Ray Guy. The Ray Guy Award winner is determined by a national selection committee of FWAA sports writers, college coaches, sports information directors, and past Ray Guy Award winners. Among the statistics used to identify the winner are total yardage punted, number of times a punt is downed or kicked out of bounds inside the opponents 20-yard line, net average, 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 Ray Guy Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of college football's predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients. For more information visit the association's official website NCFAA.org
