AUGUSTA, Ga. – University of South Alabama sophomore Jack Brooks is a candidate for the honor bestowed upon the best punter in the nation with the release of the Ray Guy Award Watch List by the Augusta Sports Council on Wednesday.

The Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, native has also been named preseason second-team all-Sun Belt Conference by Pro Football Focus and is an Athlon Sports third-team preseason all-league selection as well.

Brooks finished second in the conference among individuals who qualified for the NCAA rankings after averaging 41.7 yards per punt during the 2020 season, recording 11 kicks inside the opposition's 20-yard line among his 43 attempts while posting seven efforts of 50-plus yards.  His mark last fall was the sixth-best in the program's season record books while he enters the campaign with the third-best figure on South's career list after averaging 42.02 yards per kick his first two years as a Jaguar.

He finished with a 46.7 yards-per-punt average — his best of the year — in a victory over Texas State, and averaged 46 yards on a season-high-tying seven punts against Georgia State highlighted by two kicks covering 50 or more yards.  Brooks also posted averages of 44.5 yards per kick both in a win over ULM as well as at No. 15 Coastal Carolina last fall.

The 51 candidates on the preseason list for the honor include individuals on the 2020 Ray Guy Award semifinalist list, the top 10 NCAA punters a season ago, last year's all-conference teams, 2020 All-American teams, preseason all-conference teams announced earlier in the summer and punters on the 2020 watch list.

The complete list of candidates will be released on Nov. 2.  In mid-November, the Ray Guy Award committee will meet to select the 10 semifinalists, who will be announced on Nov. 10.  A national body of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) sports information directors, media representatives and previous Ray Guy Award winners will then vote for the top three finalists to be announced on Nov. 23.  After the finalists are named, the voting body will cast ballots again to select the nation's top punter, and the winner will be announced live during The Home Depot College Football Awards airing on ESPN on Thursday, Dec. 9.

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