AUGUSTA, Ga. – WKU Football senior John Haggerty was named to the 2020 Ray Guy Award
Watch List, the Augusta Sports Council announced Wednesday. Created in 2000, the
honor is in the namesake of College Football and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee,
punter Ray Guy.
Haggerty is the lone Conference USA punter mentioned out of the 19 initial watch
listers overall. So far during the 2020 preseason, the Sydney, Australia, native has
also been named First Team All-CUSA by both Athlon Sports and Phil Steele.
Among the statistics used to identify the winner is net punting average, number of
times 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
with particular emphasis placed on net punting average. The winner must also display
team leadership, self-discipline and have a positive impact on the team’s success.
Haggerty made an immediate impact on The Hill in his first season playing American
football. He set the all-time WKU program record with 45.9 yards per punt, which
ranked 13th in FBS, while his 42.1-yard net average was 10th. He had 17 kicks of 50+
yards after WKU had 18 such kicks from 2016-2018 combined and also had 50+ yard
punts on 38% of his 46 punts, which ranked ninth in FBS. He had 18 punts inside the
20 yard line compared to only two touchbacks, and nine fair catches by opponents
compared to only 19 returns for 130 yards.
Haggerty became the first Hilltopper punter to be voted First Team All-Conference
since Brian Claybourn in 2003 and 2004. He also served as the team’s holder for
freshman kicker Cory Munson.
Starting with the season opener against UT Chattanooga – which has been moved to
Thursday, September 3, with a kickoff time of 6 p.m. CT – second-year head coach
Tyson Helton and the 2020 Hilltoppers will face a wire-to-wire grind, as nine of the
team’s original 11 FBS opponents competed in a bowl game in 2019.
