Ray Guy Award or not, Bryce Baringer is nation’s best punter

Sporting a helmet featuring Sparty carrying a flag, Michigan State's Bryce Baringer looks on before the football game against Rutgers on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, in East Lansing.221112 Msu Rutgers Fb 025a
Sporting a helmet featuring Sparty carrying a flag, Michigan State's Bryce Baringer looks on before the football game against Rutgers on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, in East Lansing.221112 Msu Rutgers Fb 025a

Michigan State football fans have been desperate for some good news lately and all of the transfers and decommitments haven’t eased anything. But maybe Bryce Baringer’s growing list of accolades will take your mind off of it all.

OK, it probably won’t, but at least we can celebrate one of the best special teams players to ever come through the program.

Although he didn’t win the Ray Guy Award which is given annually to the best punter in the nation, he was named first-team All-Big Ten, Big Ten Punter of the Year, and on Monday, he was named an AP first-team All-American.

Basically, everyone but the Ray Guy Award selection committee believes that Baringer was the best punter in college football this year.

You don’t see Adam Korsak being named a first-team All-American or first-team All-Big Ten and yet he took home the Ray Guy Award. Puzzling.

Bryce Baringer is going to be sorely missed

Only a handful of times over the past decade, or so, did Michigan State have a completely reliable punter that when he took the field, you knew he was going to flip the field position.

Bryce Baringer was a different breed of punter.

The last time Michigan State had a punter this good, he helped the Spartans win the Rose Bowl back in 2013. His name was Mike Sadler. Unfortunately, he was taken from us too soon but he would be proud of the type of season Baringer had.

And now that (almost) everyone knows that he’s the best punter in the country, we can appreciate his greatness as he makes a name for himself in the NFL.