Firth Johnston Martinez

MICHAEL HUGHES

Punter

2007: University of California San Diego
   
Awards:

·         Honorable Mention All-American (2007)
·         All Mountain West Conference (2007)
·
        
Special Teams Player of the Week (MWC All-Conference)
·         11th in NCAA Ranking with a 2007 season punting average of 43.88

Dec. 14, 2007

SAN DIEGO - San Diego State punter Michael Hughes has been named an honorable mention All-American by College Football News. This marks the second time in his career the senior has earned All-America recognition from the publication. Hughes garnered honorable mention accolades from the same publication in 2005 as a sophomore.

Hughes ended the regular season ranked 11th nationally and second in the Mountain West Conference in punting average (44.2). The Moreno Valley, Calif., native earned MWC special teams player-of-the-week honors twice in 2007, following the game at Air Force when he tied the school record with a 54.8 punt average, and after the Wyoming contest when he had 10 punts for 481 yards, including three of 50 or more yards and a season-long 75 yarder. A two-time nominee for the Ray Guy Award, Hughes finished his Aztec career ranked second in attempts (231) and yardage (9,807) and fifth in average (42.0).

Hughes becomes just the 13th Aztec to earn All-America honors on more than one occasion in school history. To date, Hughes has been named to the all-MWC second team and to Phil Steele's all-conference third team.
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Michael Hughes is a tremendous punter who also serves as the backup place-kicker ... Had a breakout season as a sophomore, ranking in the top 10 nationally and finishing with the school's third-best season punting average (44.8) ... Second team all-conference, College Football News honorable mention All-American ... Also handled the majority of the kickoff duties in 2005 ... Missed first week of fall camp due to an injury to his kicking foot ... 2006 Ray Guy Award Watch List ...Third in school history in career punts (159) and yardage (6,644).

2006: Fifth in the MWC and 47th nationally in punting average (41.06) ... Career-high 12 punts at Wisconsin for 478 yards, including a long of 52 yards ... 12 punts matched a school single-game record ... Season-best 53-yarder against Utah, averaging 40.8 yards on four punts ... Matched his season best with a 53-yard punt at BYU, averaging 41.6 yards on five kicks ... Season high average of 45.7 on three punts versus Air Force, including another 53 yarder ... Career game at Wyoming, averaging 52.2 yards on five kicks, dropping one inside the 20 and booting another 64 yards ... 52.2 game average is third in SDSU history ... Just one kick vs. UNLV, leaving the game in the first quarter with a shoulder injury ... Did not play at TCU or New Mexico due to injury ... Returned to his starting role against Colorado State, averaging 45.2 yards on six kicks with a long of 51 and two dropping inside the 20.

2005: Tied for eighth nationally and was second in the conference in punting with a 44.8 avg. ... Season average is third-best in Aztec history ... Second-team all-Mountain West Conference ... Averaged 49.7 yards on six punts at Colorado State, including a 73 and 65-yarder ... Dropped four of five punts inside the 20, including two inside the five-yard line, against No. 20 TCU ... Averaged 46.8 yards on five kicks versus the Horned Frogs ... Punted six times for 278 yards (46.3 avg.) at Utah ... Averaged a career-best 51.0 yards on eight punts, including a career-long 78-yarder at UNLV ... Three of his six punts landed inside the 20-yard line in the win over San Jose State, averaging 48.8 yards and knocking one for 53 yards ... Had a career-highs of 11 punts and 483 yards, including a 58-yarder at Ohio State ... His 11 punts against the Buckeyes were just one short of the single-game school record ... Punted four times for 184 yards (46.0 avg.) at Air Force with a long of 47, garnering SDSU special teams player of the game honors ... Had four punts for 176 yards (44.0 avg.), including a long of 48, against UCLA ... Also added a solo tackle.

2004: Averaged 38 yards per punt as a redshirt freshman ... Showed the capabilities to produce the long boot with 58-yard punts at Michigan and at Air Force ... Had 55-yard efforts against Nevada and UCLA ... Ended the season with six punts over 50 yards with at least one coming in five different games ... Had 12 of his punts downed inside the opponent's 20-yard line, including three in Ann Arbor.

2003: Redshirted his first year on campus.

High School: An all-league, all-county, all-CIF and second-team all-state selection at Canyon Springs ... Picked up varsity letters in football, soccer, track and cross country ... Averaged 48.1 yards per punt and placed 13-of-26 punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line ... Was 4-of-4 on field goals and 32-of-34 on extra points ... Holds the school record for longest field goal (54 yards) and longest punt (70 yards).
  







Michael Hughes