Tennessee football: Vols punter Joe Doyle added to Ray Guy watch list
Further proving special teams has been a bright spot for Tennessee football, Volunteers punter Joe Doyle was added to the Ray Guy Award watch list.
Well, here’s one bit of good news that hit Tennessee football during the bye week. The Vols, despite their 1-3 start, actually have players being added to postseason awards watch lists, showing it’s not all bad.
Redshirt sophomore punter Joe Doyle was added to the Ray Guy Award Watch List over the weekend. Doyle was not on the award’s preseason watch list despite achieving All-American recognition as a freshman punter last year.
This season, the 6’0″ 204-pound former walk-on who has beaten out Paxton Brooks for the job is averaging 44.4 yards per punt with three of his nine punts going inside the 20, three going for 50 yards or more and five of them being fair-caught. The award announced Doyle as one of its additions on Twitter.
Congrats to @JoeDoyle1224 of @Vol_Football! He is officially nominated to our 2019 watch list! pic.twitter.com/1b7Y4OCULD
— Ray Guy Award (@RayGuyAward) September 29, 2019
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Eight other punters were added. They were Mac Brown of the Ole Miss Rebels, Jake Oldroyd of the BYU Cougars, Isaac Armstrong of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Bailey Flint of the Toledo Rockets, Josh Growden of the West Virginia Mountaineers, Jake Hartbarger of the Michigan State Spartans, Jake Julian of the Eastern Michigan Eagles and Trent Schneider of the South Florida Bulls.
It’s a bit shocking for Doyle to be added at this point because his most recent outing against the Florida Gators was not a good one. However, he has demonstrated how strong his leg is. Consistency has really been the only slight drawback for him on the year.
The real star of Tennessee football’s kicking game through the first four weeks has been Brent Cimaglia, who is nine-for-nine with one field goal beyond 50 yards and two go-ahead field goals, including 40-yard field goal in overtime. If the Vols could make things close with some SEC teams, he would make a huge difference.
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However, Doyle has been solid, and he has upped his averages from last year, which is good new for UT. Should he continue to improve, then at some point the Vols’ overall kicking game is bound to make a difference in a close outing.