CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Augusta Sports Council announced the preseason watch list for the 2024 Ray Guy Award, which honors the nation’s top collegiate punter in the FBS, on Friday, August 2. Five of the 34 candidates on the list hail from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
 
The five punters on the list from the ACC include redshirt senior Lachlan Wilson of Cal, redshirt senior Alex Mastromanno of Florida State, fifth-year senior Daniel Sparks of Virginia, redshirt senior Peter Moore of Virginia Tech and redshirt senior Ivan Mora of Wake Forest.
 
The 2024 watch list was compiled based on the 2023 Ray Guy Award Semifinalist List, the top 10 NCAA Punters from 2023, 2023 all-conference teams, 2023 All-American teams, the 2024 preseason all-conference teams, and eligible punters that were on the 2023 watch list.

The number of eligible candidates for this season will grow when the award committee opens nominations on August 3. The complete list of candidates will be released on November 6. In mid-November, the Ray Guy Award committee will meet to select the 10 semifinalists, who will be announced on November 15.
 
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 26. 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 in December 2024.
 
ACC Representatives on the Ray Guy Award Preseason Watch List:
 
Name, School, Class, Position
Lachlan Wilson, Cal, Redshirt Senior, P
Alex Mastromanno, Florida State, Redshirt Senior, P
Daniel Sparks, Virginia, Fifth Year, P
Peter Moore, Virginia Tech, Redshirt Senior, P
Ivan Mora, Wake Forest, Redshirt Senior, P
 
ACC Football Notes

• The ACC is the Conference of Quarterbacks, with the return of full-time starters Thomas Castellanos at Boston College, Cade Klubnik at Clemson, Grayson Loftis at Duke, Haynes King at Georgia Tech, Preston Stone at SMU, and Kyron Drones at Virginia Tech, and transfers DJ Uiagalelei at Florida State, Tyler Shough at Louisville, Cam Ward at Miami, Grayson McCall at NC State, and Kyle McCord at Syracuse among others.
  • ACC had 10 quarterbacks named to the Maxwell Award preseason watch list, no other conference had more.
  • ACC has the top-ranked group of quarterback transfers in 2024 by CBS Sports.
  • 13 QBs in the league enter the 2024 season with over 20 career touchdown passes and 3,500 career passing yards.
  • Eight quarterbacks from ACC schools are projected to start Week 1 in the 2024 NFL season — 25 percent of NFL teams.
  • Since 2018, the ACC has had at least one quarterback drafted in the first round in five different drafts — the only conference to do that.
• The ACC’s non-conference schedule continues to be the most challenging in the country.
  • 27 games against Power 4 opponents, including Notre Dame, the most of any conference.
  • Nine non-conference games against teams ranked in the final 2023 Associated Press Top 25 Poll, the most of any conference.
  • 10 non-conference games against teams in ESPN’s 2024 Way-Too-Early Top 25, the most of any conference.
• ACC Features Elite Coaching Leadership
  • Six ACC head coaches were named to the 2024 Dodd Trophy Preseason Watch List, as announced by the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and the Peach Bowl, no other conference had more.
  • Two of the three active coaches to win a national title reside in the ACC - Dabo Swinney led Clemson to national titles in 2016 and 2018. North Carolina’s Mack Brown won a national title at Texas in 2005.
• The 2024 ACC Football Championship Game will kick off in primetime at 8 p.m. ET on ABC on Saturday, Dec. 7, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About the Ray Guy Award
The Augusta Sports Council created the Ray Guy Award in 2000 to honor Thomson, Georgia native and College and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, Ray Guy. Among the statistics used to identify the winner are net punting average, number of times punt is downed or kicked out of bounds inside the opponents 20-yard line, total yardage punted, average returned yardage and percentage of punts not returned with particular emphasis placed on net punting average. The winner must display team leadership, self-discipline, and have a positive impact on the team's success.
 
About the Palm Beach County Sports Commission
The Augusta Sports Council (ASC) supports the many facets of local, national, and international sporting events that contribute to our community’s quality of life and economic development. To learn more, visit www.augustasportscouncil.org.
 
About the NCFAA
Founded in 1997, the National College Football Awards Association includes college football’s most prestigious awards and its 24 awards have honored more than 900 recipients dating back to 1935. For more information about the NCFAA and its award programs, visit NCFAA.org or follow on X at @NCFAA.
 
About the ACC
The Atlantic Coast Conference, in its 72nd year and 18 members strong, stands as one of the most competitive and revered intercollegiate conferences in the nation. ACC members including Boston College, Cal, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame, Pitt, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest are dedicated to upholding the league's founding values of academic excellence, athletic competition at the highest level, and integrity. The ACC supports 28 NCAA sports, with 15 for women and 13 for men, and its member institutions span 12 states. In August 2019, the ACC and ESPN partnered to launch ACC Network (ACCN), a 24/7 national network exclusively devoted to ACC sports and original programming. For more information, visit theACC.com and follow the ACC on Instagram (@accsports), Twitter (@theACC) and Facebook (facebook.com/theACC).