Oct. 29, 2009
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State sophomore punter Brian Stahovich (Solana Beach, Calif.) is one of 42 candidates for the 2009 Ray Guy Award, which is given annually to the nation's top collegiate punter, the Greater Augusta Sports Council announced Thursday. Stahovich is one of just 11 underclassmen on the list and two from the Mountain West Conference.
The Cathedral Catholic High graduate currently ranks fourth nationally and first in the league in punting average with 45.81 yards per kick. Stahovich has 11 punts of 50 or more yards in 2009 and 18 for his career. He has helped SDSU rank 11th-nationally in net punting (39.0) after finishing 100th (32.89) in that category a year ago. Stahovich's career-best punt average of 52.5 at Air Force earlier this season ranks fourth in school single-game history.
He is the third Aztec to be a candidate for the Ray Guy Award, which was created in 2000 to honor NFL great Ray Guy. The late Brian Simnjanovski was named to the preseason list in 2003, while Michael Hughes received the honor in 2006 and 2007.
Stahovich is the fourth Aztec football player tabbed for a national award watch list in 2009, joining wide receiver Vincent Brown (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), who is a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff award, quarterback Ryan Lindley (Alpine, Calif.), who is on the Manning Award Watch List, and center Trask Iosefa (Ewa Beach, Hawaii), who was chosen for the Rimington Trophy Fall Watch List.
The Aztecs return to Qualcomm Stadium for three consecutive home games, beginning this Saturday against New Mexico at 4:30 p.m. PT. The contest with the Lobos will be carried live on CBS College Sports and AM600 KOGO Tickets are still available by calling 619-283-SDSU or by visiting www.goaztecs.com.