Cincinnati Bearcats punter James Smith earned his second award of the day pegged by the Football Writers Association of American second team. Congrats to Mr. Smith.
Per GoBearcats
University of Cincinnati punter James Smith (Wangaratta, Australia) earned Second-Team All-America honors from the Football Writers Association of America on Monday. The exclusive announcement came on “Off Campus with Mark Packer” on ESPNU Radio on SiriusXM.
Smith, a sophomore, is UC’s first FWAA All-America selection since P Kevin Huber was a first team honoree in 2008. Smith was an Associated Press Third-Team All-America choice earlier Monday.
Smith was a First-Team All-American Athletic Conference choice for the second-straight season and one of three finalists for the Ray Guy Award. Smith leads the AAC and is No. 4 in the NCAA FBS averaging 47.0 ypp. The Bearcats led the American in net punting and rank No. 2 in the NCAA FBS (44.5). Smith had a career-long 72-yard punt against Temple and dropped 23 kicks inside the 20-yard line with 16 going 50 yards or more with only one touchback.
His 47.0 yards per punt average currently ranks first on UC’s single-season chart, just ahead of Kevin Huber’s 46.9 ypp average from 2007. Smith was honored on Ray’s 8, highlighting the best punters in college football each week, on five occasions in 2018 and he was tabbed as the Ray Guy Award Punter of the Week on November 14, 2018.
