CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – North Carolina specialists Ben Kiernan and Ryan Coe have each been selected to college football preseason award watch lists on Wednesday.

Kiernan, a graduate student punter, was named to the 2023 Ray Guy Award Preseason watch list, announced by the Augusta Sports Council.

Kiernan has started 52 games over the course of his Tar Heel career. Last season, he was named Third-Team All-ACC and finished the season with a 46.8 yard average on 48 punts. Kiernan ended the season landing 18 punts inside the 20 and tallied 14 punts over 50 yards during the 2022 season.

Coe, a graduate student place-kicker, was named to the 2023 Lou Groza Award Preseason watch list, announced by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission.

The McDonald, Pa. native, is a four-year veteran on special teams at Cincinnati and Delaware with one year of eligibility remaining. He has played in 40 career games, making 45-of-57 field goals and all 91 PATs, while kicking off 205 times and notching 107 touchbacks. Last season, he kicked in 12 games at Cincinnati and earned second-team All-AAC honors. Coe went 19-of-23 on field goals with a long of 52 yards in 2022 and made all 44 PATs. Coe set the Cincinnati single-season record for field goal accuracy prior to transferring to UNC.

Kiernan and the complete list of Ray Guy Award candidates will be released on November 6th. In mid-November, the Ray Guy Award committee will meet to select the ten semifinalists, who will be announced on November 10th. The top three finalists will be announced on November 22nd. After the finalists are named, the voting body will cast ballots again to select the nation's top punter. The winner will be announced live during The Home Depot College Football Awards airing on ESPN in December 2023.

The Lou Groza Award Watch List featuring Coe highlights 30 of the best returning kickers in the country. All FBS kickers remain eligible to be selected as semifinalists until 20 semifinalists are announced on Thursday, November 9th. From this list, a panel of more than 100 FBS head coaches, SIDs, media members, former Groza finalists, and current NFL kickers selects the top three finalists for the award, announced on Tuesday, November 28th.That same group then selects the national winner, who will be announced in December during the Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN.

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I never played football, but all I hear about with blocking and tackling is “GET LOW!” If that’s the mantra, why isn’t an advantage to be 5’11” like Willie Lampkin instead of 6’7” like Trevyon Green? Are the taller guys generally more powerful? Is it that important to see over your man?

College football’s 2023 season offers ACC teams numerous opportunities to repair the conference’s image. But the pursuit can be distilled to three words. Beat Notre Dame. ACC football teams have a six-year, 28-game, regular-season losing streak against the Fighting Irish. "We have to start competing better against them," said UNC coach Mack Brown. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Enjoy your day and have a very happy birthday🎂...

AJ & Trey are at UNC’s football practice today.

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From 1994-2000, Gary Downs learned what it takes to successfully navigate an NFL training camp. Earlier this summer, he passed on those lessons to his son, Josh Downs – the wide receiver the Colts selected in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. So as Downs enters first NFL training camp this week, he's kept those words of wisdom in mind. (Indianapolis Colts)

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We are very grateful for our subscribers, the majority of which are annual Gold Members. As a token of our appreciation, with the launch of our new Ad Lite add-on subscription we are gifting a no-obligation two-month free Ad Lite add-on to all annual subscribers at the end of this week. Monthly subs can get in on this too! Just upgrade your subscription (https://n.rivals.com/users/subscriptions) to annual before midnight, Friday August 4th, and you’ll be included (and you’ll save money, too).

Thank you for supporting our site and local business. We have not raised subscription fees for over 20 years, and by adding new features and new subscription options like Spy on your Rival, All Access (which includes Ad Lite!), and Ad Lite we offer you guys new opportunities to show your support for us, so we can keep bringing you the best recruiting news and community on the net.

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