Kai Kroeger snubbed, not one of three Ray Guy award finalists
Kai Kroger is in the midst of a fantastic year for South Carolina, but will not be even in contention for one of the national awards for best punter in the country.
The finalists for the College Football Awards were announced Tuesday and Kai Kroeger was not one of the three listed for the Ray Guy Award.
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The award is given annually to the best punter in the country and Kroeger is not one of the three.
Cincinnati’s Mason Fletcher, Michigan State’s Bryce Baringer and Adam Korsak from Rutgers will be the three finalists to go to the awards ceremony Dec. 8.
Kroeger is currently second in the country averaging 46.8 yards per punt with 27 downed inside the 20-yard line. That’s almost 52 percent of his punts this year pinning the defense back. He’s also completed three passes this season on special teams fakes for 84 yards and a score.
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If his pace keeps up, he’ll finish with the second-highest punt average in school history, less than a yard below Joseph Charlton’s 47.7 yards per punt in 2019.
Kroeger is coming off his best performance of the season where he averaged 53.7 yards per punt and pinned Clemson inside its own 5-yard line three times, twice in the fourth quarter. Kroeger received a game ball from head coach Shane Beamer after the game.
But, despite having one of the best averages this season, and being what special teams coordinator Pete Lembo calls the best holder in the country, Kroeger was seemingly snubbed from the list of finalists.
Lembo, a semi-finalist for the Broyles Award, was also not included as one of the five finalists for national assistant of the year. The Gamecocks have been one of the best special teams units in the country and rank atop ESPN’s special teams efficiency metrics.
Only offensive and defensive coordinators made the list for the Broyles finalists.
The Gamecocks just wrapped their regular season with electric wins over then-No. 5 Tennessee and No. 8 Clemson.
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South Carolina blew Tennessee out 63-38 and edged the Tigers 31-30, partially on the back of Kroeger.
Since then the Gamecocks have surged into the AP Top 25 at No. 20–the highest ranking since 2014–and are expected to be in the College Football Playoff rankings which come out Tuesday night.
The Gamecocks now await their bowl fate, which will be revealed Sunday afternoon after the College Football Playoff field is announced.
