UNC Football: Ben Kiernan named to Ray Guy Watch List

Returning UNC Football punter Ben Kiernan has been named to the 2023 pre-season Ray Guy Award Watch list as one of the top punters in the country.

Ben Kiernan will be entering his fifth season as part of the UNC football program and punting for the Tar Heels. He has started every game in his Tar Heel career since the time he stepped on campus in 2019.

After earning third-team All-ACC honors as a senior in 2022, Kiernan has now found himself on one of the most prestigious award lists in the country, the Ray Guy Award watchlist.

Kiernan was phenomenal last season and a great asset for the UNC football special teams unit and it is fully expected he will be just as good in 2023, if not better. He was named the Ray Guy Award Punter of the Week after averaging 54.2 yards per punt against Georgia State last season, including kicking career-long punts of 70 and 64 yards each in that game.

In total last year, he had eighteen punts land inside the opponent’s twenty-yard line and he had fourteen punts over 50+ yards. Being a fifth-year senior and having as much experience as he does, Kiernan is almost certain to provide valuable experience to the UNC special teams unit in 2023.

This isn’t the only Tar Heel to make a special teams award watch list, as earlier today it was also announced that Ryan Coe was also mentioned on an award watch list.

To learn more about the Ray Guy Award Watch list, click here.

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