AUGUSTA, Ga. — For the second time in the 2025 season BYU punter Sam Vander Haar has been selected as a Ray’s 8 honoree by the Augusta Sports Council and the Ray Guy Award, this time for his performance against East Carolina on Sept. 20.
Vander Haar, a senior from Melbourne, Australia, had four punts for a combined 174 yards (43.7 average) in BYU’s 34-13 win over the Pirates, including two that were downed inside the ECU 20-yard line.
With BYU leading 6-3 in the second quarter, his second punt carried 49 yards before being muffed on the ECU 12-yard line and eventually recovered by the Pirates on the 1-yard line. A pick-six by BYU cornerback Evan Johnson on the next play gave BYU a 13-3 lead early in the second quarter. His next punt in the third quarter carried 41 yards and was downed at the ECU 4-yard line. Vander Haar was also BYU’s holder on two field goals and three extra points.
In three games Vander Haar has eight punts for 353 yards, for an average of 44.1 yards per kick. He has not surrendered a single return yard on the year, with the one return netting a negative 11 yards, to give BYU a 45.5 net punting average. Five of his eight punts have been downed inside the 20-yard line.
Ray’s 8 week two honorees include, Vander Haar (BYU), Evan Crenshaw (Troy), Finn Lappin (Kansas), Grayson Miller (Oklahoma), Jack Burgess (Texas Tech), Marshall Nichols (Georgia Tech), Orion Phillips (Utah) and Wes Pahl (Oklahoma State).
The Augusta Sports Council created the Ray Guy Award in 2000 to honor Georgia native and College and Pro Football Hall of Fame Inductee, Ray Guy. Among the statistics used to identify the winner is 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 on net punting average. The winner must also display team leadership, self-discipline and have a positive impact on the team’s success.