Texas Tech senior Dominic Panazzolo has been named to the watch list for the Ray Guy Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top punter.
Panazzolo, who was named to the watch list for a second-consecutive season, has been among the top punters in the country as he is averaging 41.7 yards per attempt, just above his 41.4 clip from his debut in 2017. His average currently ranks third among Big 12 punters.
The Australian native has limited opponents to only three returns over his 40 punts this season as the Red Raiders currently rank 13th nationally in punt return defense. Opponents are only averaging 3.3 yards per return during that span as Panazzolo has not allowed a return longer than 12 yards over his Tech career.
In addition, Panazzolo has been positioned opponents deep into their own territory with 18 punts downed inside the 20 (45 percent), six of which came last weekend at Iowa State. Panazzolo was named one of the Ray Guy Award’s top-eight punters of the week following his performance against the Cyclones.
Panazzolo earned Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors on Oct. 15 after downing two punts inside the 5 during the fourth quarter of Tech’s 17-14 win at TCU. His final punt of the night was downed by De’Quan Bowman at the TCU 2-yard line, forcing TCU to go the length of the field with just over two minutes remaining.
The Ray Guy Award is selected by a voting body of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) sports information directors, national media and former Ray Guy Award winners. Punters are evaluated on their overall statistics and contribution to the team. Particular emphasis is placed on the following statistics: net average, percentage of total punts inside the 20-yard line, percentage of punts not returns, number of punts and gross average.
Panazzolo and the Red Raiders return to Jones AT&T Stadium this Saturday to host No. 7 Oklahoma in a 7 p.m. kickoff. Coverage will be provided nationally on ABC as well as the Texas Tech Sports Network.
(Courtesy: Texas Tech Sports Communications Department)
