NEW ORLEANS – Two Sun Belt Conference punters made the final list of Ray Guy Award candidates as Arkansas State’s Cody Grace and South Alabama’s Corliss Waitman were among those named to the list on Tuesday.
 
Grace has recorded 35 punts for 1,471 yards, giving him a 42.0 average per attempt.  He has posted seven punts covering at least 50 yards, including a long of 55 yards in the Red Wolves’ season opener at Nebraska.  Grace has seen 17 of his punts result in a fair catch, as well as 17 pin A-State’s opponents inside their own 20-yard line. The Perth, Western Australia, native holds a 41.8 net punting average that ranks as the second highest in the Sun Belt Conference and tied for 11th in the nation.  Grace has seen 31 of his 35 punting attempts go unreturned for an .886 percentage, while the Red Wolves’ punt return defense is allowing just two yards per attempt to lead the conference and rank tied for ninth in the nation.
 
Thus far this fall USA’s Waitman — a junior from Milton, Fla. — is averaging 45.38 yards per punt and has had 17 kicks end up inside the opposition's 20-yard line.  That includes 12 efforts of 50 or more yards, with a season-long 58-yard boot against nationally-ranked Oklahoma State in the Jaguars' home opener, and 17 that have forced the opponent to call a fair catch.  Waitman has averaged at least 46 yards per punt in five of eight contests this fall with multiple kicks inside the 20-yard line on six occasions.
 
The Ray Guy Award identifies the nation's top collegiate punter at the The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN every year in December.  
 
The list will be narrowed down to ten semifinalists to be announced on Thursday, November 16th. Following the announcement, a national voting body of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) SIDs, media representatives and previous Ray Guy Award winners will vote for the three finalists who will be identified on Tuesday, November 21st. The voting body will then cast ballots to select the winner. The 2017 Ray Guy Award winner will be announced live on ESPN during The Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday, December 7th.