Morstead Named To Ray Guy Award Watch List

[PonyPride]

Morstead Named To Ray Guy Award Watch List

Sept. 16, 2008

Augusta, Ga. (SMU) - SMU's Thomas Morstead has been named to the 2008 Ray Guy Award Watch List, the Greater Augusta Sports Council announced today. Morstead, a native of Pearland, Texas, is All-America form in 2008, leading C-USA and ranking third in the nation in punting average at 48.15 yards per punt.

The watch list for the award, which identifies the nation's top collegiate punter, will be narrowed to ten semi-finalists in early-November. The national voting body will then vote for the top three finalists, and ultimately the winner. The top three finalists will be announced in late-November, and the winner of the Ray Guy Award, which is affiliated with the National College Football Awards Association, will be presented live on ESPN during the ESPNU-Home Depot College Football Awards Show on December 11, 2008.

The award's namesake, Ray Guy, arguably the greatest punter to play football, is excited about this year's prospects. "The award is becoming more competitive every year. And to me that means teams are placing a
higher degree of importance on the role of the punter. It's a real honor to be associated with such a fine group of individuals who place more importance on the success of their team, than their own achievements."

The Greater Augusta Sports Council created the Ray Guy Award to honor Thomson, Georgia-native and College Football Hall of Fame inductee Ray Guy, arguably the greatest punter to play football. The award was first presented in 2000. The Ray Guy Award is determined by a national selection committee made up of sports writers, college football coaches, sports information directors, and past Ray Guy Award winners. Among the statistics used to identify the Ray Guy Award 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. It is also of importance for the award winner to display team leadership, self-discipline, and to have a positive impact on the team's success.

2008 Ray Guy Award Watch List: Thomas Morstead - SMU; Bryan Anger - California; Britt Barefoot - Southern Miss; Brent Bowden - Virginia Tech; Justin Brantly - Texas A&M; Terence Brown - North Carolina; Peter Caldwell - Utah State; T.J Conley - Idaho; Keenyn Crier - Arizona; Desi Cullen - Connecticut; Jeremy Davis - Arkansas; David Defatta - Middle Tennessee; Matthew DiLallo - Colorado; Andy Dittbenner - Northern Illinois; Ryan Donahue - Iowa; Derek Epperson - Baylor; Matt Fodge - Oklahoma State; Graham Gano - FSU; John Gold - Texas; Chas Henry - Florida; Kevin Huber - Cincinnati; Kevin Jones - Duke; Chris Keagle - LA Tech; Justin Kucek - Minnesota; Jonathan LaCour - Texas Tech; Rob Long - Syracuse; Scott Love - Louisiana-Monroe; Jimmy Maners - Clemson; Tim Masthay - Kentucky; Blake McAdams - Mississippi State; Pat McAfee - West Virginia; Zoltan Mesko - Michigan; Chris Miller - Ball State; Brian Mimbs - Georgia; Aaron Perez - UCLA; Keegan Peterson - Florida Atlantic; Jake Richardson - Miami (Ohio); Louie Sakoda - Utah; Brett Shrable - Arkansas State; Sam Swank - Wake Forest; Dan Titchener - Nebraska; A.J. Trapasso - Ohio State; Chase Turner - Houston; Swayze Waters - UAB; Jeff Wathne - Temple; Thomas Weber - Arizona State.