EL PASO, Texas – UTEP starting punter Joshua Sloan was named to the 2023 Ray Guy Award Preseason Watch List as announced by the Augusta Sports Council on Wednesday.

The Ray Guy Award honors the nation’s top collegiate punter in the FBS. Sloan is one of 50 candidates to be recognized. The 2023 watch list was compiled based on the 2022 Ray Guy Award Semifinalist List, the top 10 NCAA Punters from 2022, the 2022 All-Conference Teams, the 2022 All-American Teams, the 2023 pre-season All-Conference Teams and eligible punters on the 2022 watchlist.

Sloan is coming off his best season as a Miner, averaging a career-best 44.4 yards per punt. Sloan booted 45 punts for 1,998 yards. He added four touchbacks, 16 fair catches, 15 punts inside the 20, 11 50+ yard punts and no blocked kicks. Sloan ranked fourth in CUSA in punting.

The punter from down under is one of the toughest punters in the nation as the Australian tallied a tackle and forced a fumble at Rice on national television. He registered another tackle at no. 25 UTSA. Against rival NM State, Sloan set season highs in punts (six), yards (298), long punt (64 yards) and average (49.7). He placed a trio of punts inside the 20-yard line in an upset win over Boise State on national television. Sloan also booted three punts inside the 20 in a dominating victory over FIU. Against FAU, he posted a season high of three punts of 50+ yards. Sloan averaged 49.4 yards on five punts (247 yards) against Middle Tennessee.

The number of eligible candidates for this season will grow when the award opens nominations on Aug. 3. The complete list of candidates will be released on Nov. 6. In mid-November, the Ray Guy Award committee will meet to select the 10 semifinalists, who will be announced on Nov. 10. A national body of FBS sports information directors, media representatives and previous Ray Guy Award winners will then vote for the top-three finalists to be announced on Nov. 22. After the finalists are named, the voting body will cast ballots again to select the nation’s top punter. The winners will be announced live during The Home Depot College Football Awards airing on ESPN in December 2023.

ABOUT THE RAY GUY AWARD

The Augusta Sports Council created the Ray Guy Award in 2000 to honor Thomson, Ga., native and College and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, Ray Guy. Among the statistics used to identity the winner is net punting average, number of times punt is downed or kicked out of bounds inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, total yardage punted, average returned yardage and percentage of punt 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.

THE 2023 SEASON

The Miners kick off the new campaign at Jax State on Saturday, Aug. 26 at 3:30 p.m. MT on CBS Sports Network.