The Tulane Green Wave have been looking for a complete game on offense and defense as they head into Week 10 against the UTSA Roadrunners. That same search doesn’t apply to the special teams phase when it comes to punting.

Green Wave punter Alec Clark, who joined the team in the transfer portal this past spring, was recently named to the 2025 Ray Guy Award Watch List, an annual award given to the best punter in college football.

Through seven games with Tulane, Clark is second in the American and No. 15 in the nation averaging 46.4 yards per punt on 26 attempts. He also has had eight of those punts go inside the 20-yard line. Clark has five kicks of over 50 yards with a long of 70 yards in the Green Wave’s season opening win over the Northwestern Wildcats.

The only punter averaging more per game in conference play kicks for Tulane’s upcoming opponent, Caile Hogan of the Roadrunners. He is also on the watchlist.

Clark was one of 10 candidates that were added to the list this week, in addition to another American punter, Alex Bacchetta of Rice. That now makes 10 total conference punters on the watchlist: Clark, Hogan, Bacchetta, Tulsa Golden Hurricanes’ Angus Davies, Temple Owls’ Dante Atton, Navy Midshipmen’s Jacob Carlson, FAU Owls’ Logan Lupo, UAB Blazers’ Patrick Foley, East Carolina Pirates’ Ryan Leavy, and North Texas Mean Green’s Sawyer Evans.

The Ray Guy award was named for the sport’s best punter, the only pure punter to ever be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, in addition to the College Football Hall of Fame. It honors the nation’s top FBS collegiate punter.

Some of the main statistics that will determine the winner are net punting average, percentage of punts inside the 20-yard line, and percentage of punts not returned, with particular emphasis placed on net punting average.

Clark’s eight punts inside the 20-yard line are 30.7% of his 26 total punts, and 23.1% have been fair catches.

To return to the team’s inconsistency on the main two sides of the ball, they’ve been able to work through it to a 6-1 overall record and 3-0 run through conference play. One of the things that rejuvenates a team like no other is special teams.

When a defense is struggling, and the offense has to punt, a punter can give the defense crucial field position advantage and be a game-changer. Clark has been steady and stellar in the Green Wave’s third phase of play, one that could prove quite important to a win on Thursday night.