The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Dickson named to Ray Guy Award watch list
07.12.2017 | Football
The award is presented annually to the College Punter of the Year by the Augusta Sports Council.
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Texas junior punter Michael Dickson was named to the preseason watch list for the 2017 Ray Guy Award, the Augusta Sports Council announced on Wednesday morning. The award, which was first presented in 2000, is given to the College Punter of the Year.
A third-year punter and native of Sydney, Australia, Dickson looks to become the first Longhorn in school history to win the prestigious award. He was UT's first-ever finalist for the honor in 2016. So far this preseason, Dickson has also been named an All-American and All-Big 12 by Athlon Sports.
As a sophomore a season ago, Dickson finished with a school-record average of 47.4 yards per punt, downing 28 inside the 20. He also had a long of 74 yards and 25 punts of 50-or-more yards to earn All-American and All-Big 12 recognition. In addition, he was named the 2016 Big 12 Conference Special Teams Player of the Year.
Dickson had an impressive freshman campaign in 2015, earning honorable mention All-Big 12 from the league's coaches. Playing in all 12 games as the primary punter, he helped Texas rank 15th in the nation in punt return defense (3.85 ypr) and 26th in net punting (39.3 ypp). He averaged 41.3 yards per punt with 32 fair catches and 17 punts of 50-or-more yards, downing 19 inside the 20.
The Ray Guy Award is named for Ray Guy, the only punter ever selected in the first round of the NFL draft. He was an All-American at Southern Miss and was selected to seven Pro Bowls during his NFL career.
