Ole Miss punter Will Gleeson named to Ray Guy Award Watch List
Ole Miss junior punter Will Gleeson was one of 27 punters to be named to the Ray Guy Award Watch List early Thursday morning. The Ray Guy Award is awarded to the nation’s top punter in FBS Division I football.
Gleeson, the Melbourne, Australia native, will return to the Rebels this season as the team’s starting punter. Last season, Gleeson tallied 43 total punts for 1,748 yards. He averaged 40.7 yards per punt, boasting five punts for at least 50 yards and placing 11 inside the 20-yard line.
Over the past two seasons, Gleeson has landed 35 punts inside the 20-yard line. With the help of Gleeson’s strong leg, he guided Ole Miss to a second place finish in the Southeastern Conference and 32nd in the nation in punt return defense, holding opponents to 5.94 yards per return in 2015.
The Rebels also finished the 2015 season fifth in the SEC and 27th in the country in net punting (39.3 yards).
This isn’t the first time Gleeson has been in the spotlight as he was a two-time Ray Guy Award National Punter of the week in 2014 as a freshman.
The 2016 winner of the Ray Guy Award will mark the first time in three years that a new punter will win the award. Utah’s Tom Hackett captured back-to-back Ray Guy Award trophies in 2014 and 2015 and is now with the New York Jets.
The winner of the Ray Guy Award will be unveiled on Dec. 8, 2016 during The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN.
Courtney Smith
Courtney is from Memphis and received his Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Memphis in May of 2014. He began his journalism career covering the Memphis Tigers Men's basketball team, which landed him an intern position on 730 Yahoo Sports Radio and a position with Rivals.com. A freelance writer for the Associated Press, Courtney is also a member of The Rebel Walk team and reports regularly on Ole Miss football and basketball. Courtney, the father of a six-year old girl named Soniyah, prefers to cover NCAA basketball and football, but is happy to report on any other sport that comes his way.
