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Olympic Sports Adam Korsak named Ray Guy Award finalist

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers football punter Adam Korsak earned recognition as a Ray Guy Award finalist, the Augusta Sports Council announced Tuesday. The Aussie is one of three punters nationwide to make the final round, joining Matt Araiza (San Diego State) and Jordan Stout (Penn State).

A voting body will next select the winner of the 2021 Ray Guy Award. Fans have one vote in the process and can take part by voting at RayGuyAward.com from Nov. 24 to Nov. 30 at noon. The winner will be announced during the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Dec. 9 on ESPN.

The Scarlet Knights lead the nation in net punting with a mark of 45.33 in 2021. The number is currently ahead of the NCAA record of 45.04 set by BYU in 1983. Net punting calculates the exchange in yardage, factoring in returns against and touchbacks.

Korsak has not bounced an attempt into the end zone for a touchback in 118 consecutive chances dating back to the finale of 2019 (20 games), the longest active streak nationally. This season, he has punted 66 times with 35 downed inside the 20, 15 at the 10 or closer, eight at the five or closer and four times settling a kick at the 1-yard line.

Opponents have been held to a return of less than four yards 63-of-66 attempts. That includes 59 times recording a zero or negative return. The average starting field position following a Korsak punt has been the own 22.

For distance, Korsak is on pace to set the school record with an average of 46.0 through 11 games. Ryan Anderson is the current holder with a 44.4 average in 2017. The two-time team captain has launched 18 punts of at least 50 yards this season, with 11 traveling 55 or more yards and three over 60. That included a 74-yarder, fifth-longest in school history, to the 7-yard line at Penn State and a 69-yarder to the 1 at Syracuse.


The performance has garnered recognition multiple times, including claiming the Ray Guy Punter of the Week on three occasions, Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week twice and to the Ray's 8 list five separate times. In the win at Illinois, Korsak downed punts at the 20, 15, 4 and 1 in helping to establish field position. His first punt of the season versus Temple went 56 yards, stopped at the 1 and led to a safety.

In 44 games since taking over the role for the Scarlet Knights, Korsak has been on the Ray Guy Award watch list all four seasons and earned All-Big Ten recognition the three previous years. He has downed 110 inside the 20 (41 percent) with only five career touchbacks (1.9 percent) on 268 punts. The Aussie holds the school record with 11,757 career yards, forcing 101 fair catches and never allowing a touchdown or block against. His longest attempt went 79 yards versus Northwestern in 2018, another school record.

The Melbourne, Australia, native is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar working towards a master's degree in communication, information and media.


The last Scarlet Knight to become a finalist for a national on-field award was Ray Rice for the 2007 Doak Walker Award.

Rutgers (5-6) returns to SHI Stadium to host Maryland (5-6) in the regular season finale Saturday at noon. Tickets are available at ScarletKnights.com. The game will broadcast on Big Ten Network and the RWJBarnabas Health Rutgers Sports Network.
 
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That is a helluva press release... well done by whoever.

Hopefully, the Ray Guy people read an assessment like that and not just look at that 90 yard boot by the SD State guy.
 
Sadly I think he was out punted by Stout last week. Hopefully that doesn't weigh in to badly for him.
 
Great final grouping to be recognized with. All are tremendous at their craft.
 
I had heard about the SDSU guy but didn't realize the PSU guy was on this level. I thought he just had a really good day against us.

I forget where I heard it but someone mentioned it makes sense for Korsack to get the Ray Guy award for most effective punter and the SDSU guy to get the Lou Groza award as the guy that can kick the living sh*t out of the ball.
 
PSU was having their punt team receive the punts inside our 10 yard line to keep it from bouncing into the end zone. This required their punter to delay a good while to allow time for their players to get downfield.
I've not seen this done very often.

Korsak lays punts inside the 10 all by himself on a regular basis.
 
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Just voted a bunch of times. Don't forget using the incognito window to vote over and over again.
 
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