Texas Tech's special teams corps suffered a big loss as All-American punter and Ray Guy Award finalist Austin McNamara exhausted his eligibility. McNamara is one of the best punters in Texas Tech history, averaging over 44.0 yards in all five seasons as the Red Raiders' starting punter.
Looking ahead to 2024, the rest of the division will look like this:
Key returner: K Gino Garcia (Super Senior, 6-2, 215), K Reese Burkhardt (Sr., 6-1, 205), KR Dre McCray (Sr., 5-9, 185)
Main losses: P Austin McNamara (graduated), P Brooke Honoré (transferred to Arkansas State University)
Newcomer: P Jack Burgess (junior, Weber State transfer), LS Rylan Vagana (freshman)
Biggest unanswered questions: How does Burgess compare to McNamara?
Burgess has a big task ahead of him after transferring from Weber State, but he is coming off an excellent sophomore season at Ohio State. Burgess, who averages 47.2 yards per punt, could be the next available punter for the Red Raiders.
After coming from Australia, Burgess adapted well and became a force for the Bobcats over the past two seasons.
Burgess was scouted by McNamara and special teams coordinator Kenny Perry in Lubbock, and the Red Raiders hope Burgess can maintain an average of 47 yards, exceeding McNamara's 2023 total.
Why 2024 could be better
Tech selected Gino Garcia, who won the job for the 2023 season after backing up Trey Wolf in 2022, to be its starting placekicker during head coach Joey McGuire's first offseason in Lubbock. I was reinstated.
Garcia's presence was strong despite a 72.7 field goal percentage, and he made a variety of key field goals throughout the 2023 season. McGuire and others expect Garcia to continue to be a strong presence and grow with the Red Raiders.
Why 2024 could be even worse
Tech clearly loses one of the best punters in program history and will likely rely on a lower-level transfer in Burgess to fill the void.
The player delivering the ball to the long snapper, the punter, is another story.
Jackson Knotts will miss the entire 2024 season after sustaining a serious knee injury against Texas in late November, so Red Raiders freshman Rylan Vagana will take over his role. Vagana was one of the highest-ranked long snappers in his 2024 recruiting class out of Mater Dei High School.
overall outlook
Tech is looking for another strong season from its specialist group of fresh faces. The Red Raiders return Dre McCray, one of the nation's best kick returners, following a strong 2023 that included a kick return for a touchdown.
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