Inside The Panthers

Pitt Punter Named to Ray Guy Award Watch List

Pitt Panthers punter Caleb Junko was named to the Ray Guy Award Watch List.

Dominic Campbell

Oct 23, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers long snapper Byron Floyd (49) and punter Kirk Christodoulou (98) and long snapper Cal Adomitis (94) and place kicker Caleb Junko (95) huddle before the game against the Clemson Tigers at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Oct 23, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers long snapper Byron Floyd (49) and punter Kirk Christodoulou (98) and long snapper Cal Adomitis (94) and place kicker Caleb Junko (95) huddle before the game against the Clemson Tigers at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH -- Pitt Panthers redshirt junior punter Caleb Junko has had a solid season and earned a spot on the Ray Guy Award Watch List.

The Ray Guy Award recognzies the best punter in college football and is named after Ray Guy, an All-American punter for Southern Miss and was an eight-time NFL All-Pro honoree. The committee for the award includes previous winners, sports information directors (SIDs), college football writers and college coaches.

Pitt has never had a punter win the Ray Guy Award, which started in 2000, but Junko has put up numbers to consider himself amongst the best in the country.

He has 19 punts for 854 yards, 44.9 average attempt, one touchback, four fair caught, four inside the 20-yard line and eight for 50+ yards this season.

Junko's most important game came in the last one against Cal at home in Week 7. He had a season-high six punts, five of which were 50+ yards, two inside the 20-yard line, one fair catch and one touchback.

His play served crucial for the Panthers, as their offense struggled in the second half, scoring no points. He gave poor field position to the Golden Bears, allowing the Panthers defense to come up big in the 17-15 win.

Junko also had a solid game in the 34-24 win over North Carolina in Week 6, the first ever victory for Pitt in Chapel Hill, losing the previous seven matchups there. He had three punts, two of 50+ yards and one inside the 20-yard line.

New special teams coach Jacob Bronowski, who had one of the best special team units at Miami (Ohio) last season, is an important part for how Junko has performed this season.

Bronowski praised Junko for his performance following the North Carolina game and also new long snapper Nilay Upadhyayula, who transferred from UConn this offseason. He is also the long snapper for Junko on his punts.

"Junko, man, I tell you what, that was his best game against North Carolina," Bronowski said last week. "Testament to Upa, it was also Upa's best game. It goes hand-in-hand....Junko had two punts over 50 yards, flipped the field twice. So I think where he's at, he continues to stack weeks and I'm proud of him and he's got to continue to do that so we can continue to take advantage of an explosive punt unit when we want to..."

Junko won the starting job late in 2022 over both scholarship punter Sam Van der Haar and fellow walk-on Cam Guess. He eanred a scholarship in 2023, but struggled to maintain consistency throughout.

If he continues his great play, Pitt will continue to have one of the better special teams units in the country, with redshirt senior place kicker Ben Sauls perfect on the season as well.

Junko has a family history with Pitt football, as his grandfather, Bob Junko, served as a coach and an administrator for the program, his uncle, Jay Junko, was a wide receiver and punter for Pitt and his brother, Josh Junko, played wide receiver for Pitt from 2019-23.

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Dominic Campbell
DOMINIC CAMPBELL

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