COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- San Diego State football's John Baron II has been named the Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Week, the league announced Monday. It is the fourth special teams award of the season for the Temecula, Calif., native and fifth of his career.
Baron became the first player to win the MW Special Teams Player of the Week four times in a season since Utah's Louie Sakoda won the award five times in 2008. An Aztec has now earned the MW Special Teams Player-of-the-Week award five consecutive chances, excluding when they were idle (Oct. 1). Out of the 21 possible awards (offensive, defensive and special teams) for the seven games that SDSU has played this season, a San Diego State player has won eight times (John Baron II special teams four times, Darren Hall defensive twice, Kyhava Tezino (defensive on Oct. 15) and Kaelin Himphill (special teams on Oct. 15).
Baron helped the Aztecs to a 16-13 win over San José State on Saturday night by accounting for 10 of SDSU's 16 points in the game. He was 3-for-3 on field goal attempts, tying his season high with three field goals, and made his lone PAT. The senior first connected on a 36-yarder with 16 seconds left in the first half to give San Diego State a 10-6 lead. Baron then made a 22-yarder in the third quarter to put the Aztecs up, 13-6. He finished his night with a 51-yarder with 4:36 left in the game, which proved to be the game-winning kick in a 16-13 game. Baron also kicked off five times for 322 yards (64.4 avg.) with three touchbacks.
On the season, Baron is 13-for-15 in field goal attempts (.867) and 12-for-12 on PATs, leading the team with 51 points. Among the FBS leaders, Baron ranks in a tie for first in PAT percentage (1.000, T-1st in MW), a tie for sixth in field goals per game (1.86, 1st in MW), a tie for 17th in field goal percentage (.867, 2nd in MW), a tie for 24th in touchback percentage (66.7, T-2nd in MW) and a tie for 42nd in touchbacks (24, 3rd in MW). He's also kicked off 36 times for 2,243 yards (62.3 avg.) with 24 going for touchbacks. If you take away his three squib kicks for 100 yards, the left-footer is averaging 65.0 yards per kickoff (33 KO for 2,143 yards) with a 72.7 touchback percentage (24 TB in 33 KO).
Among the all-time kickers in NCAA FBS history, Baron ranks sixth in field goal percentage (.868) for his career, going 46-for-53. Among active FBS kickers, he ranks first in field goal percentage (.868, min. 20 FG) and road field goal percentage (.913, min. 20 FGM), tied for 10th in field goals (46) and field goals per game (1.35), and tied for 12th in points (258) (T-14th in points regardless of position). Among the all-time SDSU kickers, he is second in field goal percentage (.868), third in PATs (120), fourth in points (258) and PAT percentage (.984), and tied for fourth in field goals (46), while also ranking seventh overall at SDSU in scoring (258 points).
Receiving votes in the latest AP poll and the Amway Coaches Poll, San Diego State (6-1, 3-0 MW) has won six consecutive games since falling in the opener at No. 13/13 Stanford. The Aztecs are one of just four teams to have at least a six-game winning streak in each of the last four seasons (2015-18) (also Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State).
SDSU plays at Nevada (4-4, 2-2 MW) at 7:30 p.m. PT Saturday in Reno, Nev.
Football's John Baron II Named MW Special Teams PotW
