AT SAN JOSÉ STATE: Completed four seasons with the Spartans... School's career leader in punting average at 44.0 and punting yards (9,907)... 12 career punts of 60 or more yards... First San Jose State punter to finish in the top-five nationally in punting in two seasons (2015, 2017) and in the top-20 nationally in punting in consecutive seasons (2015, 2016, 2017)... Set the San Jose State single-season record for punting average with a 47.5 mark in 2015... First joined the team for 2014 spring practice as an invited non-scholarship candidate... First Spartan to participate in the annual Walter Camp Football All-America weekend... Second San Jose State player in history to be invited to the annual December College Football Awards Show as a 2015 Ray Guy Award finalist... First punter in school history to be named to an all-conference team three times in a career... Added kickoff duties to his special teams responsibilities in 2016... Enhanced his value to the team as a holder in 2017... Lost 30 pounds between his freshman and sophomore seasons resulted in one of the best seasons by a Spartan at any position... Acccepted an invitation to play in the 2018 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.
2017: Second-team All-Mountain West... Finished fifth nationally with his 45.6 yards per punt average... Five punts of 60 or more yards and 23 punts of 50 of more yards... Named to the Ray Guy Award watch list... 21 of 32 kickoffs (65.6 percent) resulted in touchbacks... San José State ranked 15th nationally in kickoff return defense allowing 17.9 yards per return... Spartans yielded the third fewest kickoff return yards (161) nationally... Served as the team's #1-holder and was part of a kick-scoring unit that converted five field goals of 50 or more yards.
2016: Honorable mention All-Mountain West... Averaged 44.3 yards per punt... Finished 14th nationally in punting average... Named to the Ray Guy Award watch list... Season-long 64-yard punt at New Mexico (10/1)... Served as the kickoff specialist... Forced opponents to take a touchback on 68.3 percent of his kickoffs... San Jose State had the second highest percentage of touchbacks on kickoff return opportunities in the Mountain West... Spartans had second fewest kickoff return yardage nationally (273)... Opponents only averaged 19.5 yards per return when able to return his kickoffs.
2015: Ray Guy Award finalist for the best punter in college football... Second team All-America selection by the Walter Camp Football Foundation and the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA)... First team All-Mountain West... Named the Special Teams Player of the Year at the team's annual awards banquet... Averaged a school record 47.5 yards per punt handling all punting duties... Previous school record was 44.0 yards a punt... Improved his punting average by a remarkable 10.4 yards per punt between his freshman and sophomore seasons... Finished third nationally and first in the Mountain West in punting average... Was the national leader in punting for 10 of the first 12 weeks of the season... Had five punts of 60 or more yards... Career best 73-yard punt at Air Force (9/12) is the seventh longest punt in school history... Helped San Jose State to a school record 42.42 yards net punting average... Spartans finished second in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in net punting.
2014: Won the number-one punting role during preseason camp... Averaged 37.1 yards per punt... Had four punts of 50 or more yards including a season-long 52 yarder at Utah State (11/21)... Average picked up the second half of the season at 38.4 compared to 35.4 for the first six games... Had three opportunities to be the placekicker... Converted his first PAT after the Spartans' final touchdown in the 42-10 season-opening win against North Dakota (8/28)... Missed a 24-yard field goal in the Hawai'i game (11/15)... Assigned the #1-placekicking role for the season-finale at San Diego State (11/29), but missed a 21-yard field goal attempt... Also kicked off twice during the season.
HIGH SCHOOL: Lettered in football (Coach Jeff Carnazzo) and soccer at Palma High in Salinas, Calif.
MORE ON MICHAEL: A justice studies major... A member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity... Would like to become a second-generation police officer... Enjoys relaxing by a swimming pool... He is a native of Salinas, Calif.
PUNTING | NO. | YDS. | AVG. | LG | TB | FC | I20 | 50+ |
2014...FR | 43 | 1,595 | 37.1 | 52 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 4 |
2015...SO | 48 | 2,280 | 47.5 | 73 | 6 | 10 | 22 | 25 |
2016...JR | 61 | 2,703 | 44.3 | 64 | 6 | 17 | 21 | 19 |
2017...SR | 73 | 3,329 | 45.6 | 68 | 5 | 24 | 25 | 23 |
CAREER | 225 | 9,907 | 44.0 | 73 | 18 | 62 | 74 | 71 |
KICK SCORING | XP-XPA | FG-FGA | FG Made | FG Missed | PTS. | |||
2014...FR | 1-1 | 0-2 | None | 24, 21 | 1 | |||
KICKOFFS |
NO. | YDS. | AVG. | TB | OB | |||
2016...JR | 60 | 3,648 | 60.8 | 41 | 4 | |||
2017...SR | 32 | 1,751 | 54.7 | 21 | 3 | |||
CAREER | 92 | 5,399 | 58.7 | 62 | 7 |