NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference has two preseason candidates for the 2019 Ray Guy Award — presented annually to the nation's most outstanding punter - as announced by the Augusta (Ga.) Sports Council on Wednesday.

Arkansas State's Cody Grace and Georgia State's Brandon Wright were among the 26 candidates listed.

Grace, a two-time All-Sun Belt selection and two-time Ray Guy Award semifinalist, posted only one touchback in 64 punting attempts in 2018, while his punts were returned just eight times. Grace posted a Sun Belt-high 25 punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line. He averaged 40.6 yards per punt and held a net average of 40.5 as A-State set an NCAA record for punt defense, allowing -15 yards.

Wright - The redshirt-senior from Atlanta holds a career punting average of 43.7, which is ahead of the school record held by New Orleans Saints kicker Wil Lutz (42.84). Wright ranks second in school history in career punts (139), punting yards (6,087) and field goals (20) and fourth in career scoring with 116 points. He was a 2018 All-Sun Belt First Team member and one of 10 semifinalists for the Ray Guy Award as the top punter in FBS, the first GSU player to be a semifinalist for a major college football award. He finished 2018 ranked No. 3 in FBS in both punting average (48.2) and net (42.8) - the 48.2 average is a Sun Belt record. 24 of his 51 punts traveled 50-plus yards, including six 60-plus punts, and 22 were inside the 20-yard line.

In mid-November, the Ray Guy Award committee will meet to select the ten semifinalists, who will be announced on November 19th. 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 November 25th. After the finalists are named, the voting body will cast ballots again to select the nation’s top punter. The winner will be announced live during The Home Depot College Football Awards airing on ESPN on Thursday, December 12, 2019.