PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Dec. 8, 2022) – P Adam Korsak is the winner of the 2022 Ray Guy Award as the best punter in the nation, it was announced Thursday on The Home Depot College Football Awards Show live on ESPN. This marks the first on-field national award won by a Rutgers football player in program history.
The Ray Guy Award winner is selected by a voting body of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) communications 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 and percentage of punts not returned.
“This is a well-deserved honor and a great achievement,” head coach Greg Schiano said. “Adam is the best punter I’ve worked with in 35 years of coaching and really impacts the game. A three-time captain, his leadership has been just as valuable. We will miss Adam and look forward to watching him at the next level.”
The NCAA all-time leader in punting attempts (349) and yardage (15,318), Korsak led a unit that held opponents to -11 return yards this season, best in the nation, with just one positive return against in 75 attempts. He pinned a national-best 32 punts inside the 20 to help Rutgers rank third overall in net punting (43.57).
In punts this season from the Rutgers 40 and closer (28 attempts), Korsak downed 13 inside the 10, 20 at the 15 or closer and four at the 20 (two touchbacks) with nothing higher than the 21. The average drive start for the opponent in the pooch situation was the 12.
Korsak forced 35 fair catches and a muff recovered to lead to a touchdown. He booted 14 at least 50 yards, blasting a season-long 77-yarder at Minnesota to set a stadium record. In addition, Korsak was recognized on the weekly Ray’s 8 seven times in 2022, winning national punter of the week on two occasions.
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For his career, the Aussie downed 41.5 percent of his punts inside the 20 with only seven touchbacks (2.0 percent). In a 27-game span between 2019 and 2022, Korsak had a steak of 150 consecutive attempts without a touchback. He never had a punt blocked or returned for a touchdown, with 63 attempts of at least 50 yards. That included a school-record 79-yard boot in 2018.
Korsak is just one of two players in Rutgers history to be voted a captain three times and is tied for the program record with 58 career games played. In addition, the three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection previously earned a spot as a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. He is also a member of the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team® for holding a GPA of at least 3.5 and is working on a second master’s degree.
Korsak will be honored at the annual Ray Guy Award banquet in Augusta, Georgia, in early 2023.
For more on Rutgers football, visit https://scarletknights.com/sports/football.
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