.png&width=42&height=42&type=webp)
University of Minnesota Athletics
Mortell On Ray Guy Award Watch List
7/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Minnesota punter Peter Mortell was named to the preseason watch list for the 2015 Ray Guy Award today. Mortell is one of 25 student-athletes named to the list, which annually recognizes the best punter in college football.
Mortell, who was named the 2014 Eddleman-Fields Big Ten Punter of the Year and earned All-Big Ten First Team recognition from the coaches and media, has served as the Gophers' primary punter for the last two seasons. In that time he has punted 129 times for 5,712 yards and his career average of 44.3 yards currently ranks first in team history (Adam Kelly who punted from 1983-85 is second with a career average of 43.3 yards). Mortell has 36 career punts that have traveled 50 yards or more and four punts that have gone at least 60 yards. He has placed 46 career punts inside the 20-yard line and his career long of 64 yards (tied for tenth longest in team history) came in a snowstorm against Ohio State in 2014.
The senior, who has already received his degree in marketing from Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, played in 13 games last season and handled all punting and holding duties. He punted 67 times for 3,025 yards (third all-time in single-season history) and led the Big Ten with an average of 45.1 yards (second all-time in team history). Mortell recorded 21 punts of 50 yards or longer and placed 25 punts inside the 20-yard line. In addition, he had 16 punts that were fair caught and another 12 that went for touchbacks. Mortell was the first Minnesota specialist to be named All-Big Ten First Team since kicker Chip Lohmiller was in 1986. He also repeated as team's Bobby Bell Award winner, which is given to the team's outstanding special teams player, and was named Academic All-Big Ten.
Mortell joins teammates Briean Boddy-Calhoun and Eric Murray in players who are on a preseason watch list. Boddy-Calhoun was named to the Lott IMPACT Trophy award watch list, while both he and Murray were named to the 2015 Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List.
Minnesota has had eight players receive national awards for their play, with Matt Spaeth winning the 2006 John Mackey Award being the most recent. Gopher tight end Maxx Williams was a finalist for the Mackey Award in 2014.
Ray Guy Award
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.
National College Football Awards Association
The Ray Guy Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 22 awards boast over 700 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit www.NCFAA.org to learn more about our story.
Beginning in 2015, The Home Depot College Football Awards will have a new home at the College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience in downtown Atlanta. Airing live on ESPN on December 10, 2015, college football's brightest stars will be honored for their performance on and off the field.
The members of the NCFAA are unveiling their preseason watch lists over a 12-day period this month. Sixteen of the association's 22 awards select a preseason watch list and the NCFAA has spearheaded a coordinated effort to promote each award's preseason candidates. Following is the complete 2015 preseason watch list calendar:
