San Diego State University senior specialist Jack Browning enters the 2023 college football season with much expectation after receiving numerous preseasons awards, including a first-team All-American at punter by Sports Info Solutions, the MW Special Teams Player of the Year by the league’s media, and a first-team all-MW pick at punter and a third-team selection by Pro Football Focus, Phil Steele Magazine and Athlon Sports at kicker.
Big things are certainly expected out of the West Hills and Grossmont College alumnus after most recently landing on a pair of national watch lists: the Ray Guy Award Watch List and the Lou Groza Award Watch List. The Ray Guy Award goes out to the best collegiate punter while the Lou Groza Award is for the top placekicker.
Browning, from Lakeside, is the only player in the country to make both lists.
Since earning the No. 1 job, Browning has handled kickoffs, place-kicking and punting as the Aztecs’ go-to man with extraordinary success.
“I feel like it was something I felt very confident in actually,” Browning said. “I’ve been competing in all three ever since my junior college career at Grossmont. It’s something I’ve had a lot of practice with handling all three duties, and I just felt very confident in working with coach Hall (SDSU strength and conditioning coach Adam Hall) and the strength staff to make sure my body felt right the whole season and it ended up being pretty successful and very confident.”
Browning said he’s also grown under the tutelage of former Chargers kicker Nick Novak, with whom he has been training since June 2020.
“He’s been one of my greatest mentors,” Browning said in regard to Novak, who played for the Chargers from 2011-14 during a playing career from 2005- 20. “Not only just the mechanics of punting and kicking but also the mentality of what you need to do and the mindset you need to have when you are in those situations with a game on the line. You’ve got to be able to hone all those emotions and just channel it into one energy and do what needs to be done. So definitely a lot has come from working with Nick and I’m just truly blessed and grateful to be able to work with him.”
The Aztecs will get a preseason showcase at Saturday’s annual FanFest at Snapdragon Stadium.
SDSU kicks off the 2023 season Aug. 26 at Snapdragon Stadium with a 4 p.m. nonconference game against Ohio University.
The Aztecs finished 7-6 last season and are riding a stretch of 13 consecutive seasons without a losing campaign. This season’s schedule is challenging with five of SDSU’s first six games against teams that qualified for a bowl game last season, including four 10-win programs: Ohio (10-4), Oregon State (10- 3), Boise State (10-4) and Air Force (10-3). UCLA finished 9-4.
Red and Black
Taking over for 2021 Ray Guy Award winner Matt Araiza, Browning had an impressive 2022 season for the Aztecs with 68 punts for 3,135 yards (46.1 average, long of 63 yards) and 20 of 25 field goal attempts made (80.0 percent, long of 52 yards). He converted all 30 point-after-touchdown kicks en route to being named a second-team Pro Football Focus All-American and an honorable- mention College Football Network All-American, both at punter.
Additionally, Browning was named the Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Year by the league’s head coaches and media, SDSU’s second straight punter to win the award and fifth winner over the last eight seasons (since 2015).
Browning has exemplified pin-point accuracy on his kicks. Out of Browning’s 68 punts, 28 landed inside the 20-yard line, including 14 inside the 10 and six inside the five-year line to own a 42.3 net punt average.
He also kicked off 59 times for 3,784 yards (64.1 average) with 37 touchbacks; he had two designed rushes for 59 yards (29.5 average) on a pair of fake punts — the first going for 26 yards and the second for 33 yards.
According to Pro Football Focus, Browning had the secondbest punt grade (84.4) in the country. He ranked third in SDSU single-season history in punt average (46.10), tied for third in field goals (20) and tied for seventh in field goal percentage (80.0).
Browning is one of 50 punters on the initial watch list for the Ray Guy Award and one of 30 placekickers for the Lou Groza Award. Semifinalists will be announced Nov. 9-10. Award winners will be named in December.
Guy, a first team All-American his senior season in 1972 for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, won three Super Bowls with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders and was the first pure punter selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.
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 placed on net punting average. The winner must display team leadership, selfdiscipline and have a positive impact on the team’s success. Groza, nicknamed “The Toe,” played 21 seasons with the Cleveland Browns.
Groza won four NFL championships with Cleveland and was named NFL Player of the Year in 1954. Although an All-Pro offensive lineman as well, Groza ushered in the notion that there should be a place on an NFL roster for a kicker.
Accomplishments will be tabulated throughout the season for the award.
