Sept. 16, 2008
AUGUSTA, Ga. €" Baylor punter Derek Epperson was one of 46 student-athletes named to the 2008 Ray Guy Award Watch List, announced Tuesday by the Greater Augusta Sports Council. The Ray Guy Award is given annually to the nation's top collegiate punter. Baylor's Daniel Sepulveda is the award's only two-time winner, picking up the hardware in 2004 and 2006.
Epperson is one of only 11 sophomores and one of seven punters from the Big 12 Conference on the list. He ranks second in the Big 12 and ninth nationally with a 45.4-yard average on 11 punts with five inside the opponent's 20, four punts of 50-plus yards and two punts of 60-plus yards. As a team, Baylor ranks third in the Big 12 and fifth nationally in net punting (41.8 average).
Three of Epperson's last five punts have been 50-plus yards, and the other two were downed inside the opponent's 10. Through only three games of his sophomore season, Epperson already ranks 10th in Baylor history with 12 career punts of 50-plus yards and ninth with three career punts of 60-plus yards. A product of Keller [Texas] High School, Epperson earned freshman All-Big 12 and honorable mention Freshman All-America honors from The Sporting News last season.
The watch list will be narrowed to 10 semifinalists in early November with three finalists being chosen from that group in late November. The Ray Guy Award winner will be announced Dec. 11 during the ESPNU-Home Depot College Football Awards Show, aired live nationally on ESPN.
Baylor returns to action Friday, traveling to East Hartford, Conn., for a non-conference game against Connecticut. Kickoff between the Bears and Huskies is scheduled for 7 p.m. CDT at Rentschler Stadium. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
