Twitter: @C_Leininger80 | @calfootball
Instagram: cal_football
Pronunciation
lining-GUR
Career Stats
Game Logs: 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012
Leininger was the starting punter during each of his four seasons at Cal from 2012-15 and played in 48 of 49 possible games. Leininger averaged 41.1 yards per punt that ended up just percentage points outside Cal's career top-10 list. He helped the Golden Bears set an all-time record for the least punts returned by an opponent twice, first with seven during his 2014 junior season and then bettering that with six as a 2015 senior. He had his top statistical season as a 2013 sophomore when he averaged 42.9 yards per punt for the eighth-best mark in school history to earn second-team All-Pac-12 honors from College Sports Madness. Leininger was an honorable mention Pac-12 All-Academic selection in each of his final three campaigns.
Cal Career (2012-15)
• Was the team’s starting punter for four seasons from 2012-15 and played in 48 of 49 possible games with the lone exception coming when he was not called upon to punt at Texas as a 2015 senior
• A member of the Ray Guy Award Watch List honoring the nation’s top punter twice as a 2013 sophomore and 2014 junior
• Punted 218 times for 8,951 yards and a 41.1 yards per punt average that ranks just percentage points outside Cal’s all-time top-10 list
• Forced opponents to make 89 fair catches and pinned them inside their 20-yard line 55 times with only nine touchbacks including a career-low-tying one as both a 2012 freshman and a senior
• Had a long punt of 70 yards on his first punt in the season opener as a sophomore vs. Northwestern and 35 career punts of 50 yards or more
• Completed 1-of-2 passes on fake punt attempts with the completion for a single yard at Stanford as a sophomore and the incompletion coming at USC during his junior campaign
• Registered a single-game career best of 54.2 yards per punt at Colorado as well as career highs of 10 punts and 428 punting yards at Washington all as a sophomore
• Three-time honorable mention Pac-12 All-Academic selection as a sophomore, junior and senior
Senior (2015)
• Played in 12 of 13 games all off the bench but did not participate for the only time in his Cal career when he was not called on to punt at Texas
• Registered a 41.2 yards per punt average that ranked sixth in the Pac-12 but did not have enough punts to rank nationally, punting 37 times for 1,526 yards
• Had the fewest punts among the 12 primary punters in the Pac-12 for a team that had a total of 47 punts that were also the fewest in the Pac-12
• Opponents returned only six punts to mark the fewest punt returns by an opponent in school history one season after holding opponents to a previous record-low with seven during his 2014 junior campaign
• Forced opponents to make 21 fair catches including a season-high five vs. San Diego State
• Pinned opponents inside their 20-yard line 12 times including three times in the season-opener vs. San Diego State
• Allowed a career-low-tying one touchback in 37 punts
• Had five punts of 50 or more yards with one in each of five contests
• Registered a season-long punt of 60 yards vs. Washington State
• Had a season-high average of 48.7 yards per punt vs. USC with other punt numbers and averages coming vs. Washington State (3-47.0), at Utah (2-43.0), at Oregon (5-42.6), vs. Grambling State (3-42.0), vs. San Diego State (3-39.8), at Stanford (2-39.0), at Washington (3-38.0), vs. Oregon State (1-38.0), in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl vs. Air Force (2-36.5) and vs. Arizona State (3-33.3)
• Honorable mention Pac-12 All-Academic for the third consecutive season
Junior (2014)
• Played in all 12 games off the bench for the third consecutive season and registered a 39.8 yards per punt average that ranked ninth in the Pac-12 and 87th nationally, punting 52 times for 2,072 yards
• Opponents returned only seven punts to mark the fewest punt returns by an opponent in school history before the mark was broken during his 2015 senior campaign
• Forced opponents to make 17 fair catches including nine in the last three contests and a season-high four in the season finale vs. BYU
• Pinned opponents inside their 20-yard line a career-high 16 times including on a single-game career-best five occasions vs. UCLA when he earned College Football Performance Awards Honorable Mention Punter Performer of the Week honors
• Had five touchbacks on the campaign
• Had eight punts of 50 or more yards including two both at Arizona and vs. UCLA, and at least one six times
• Registered a season-long punt of 59 yards vs. Washington
• Had a season-high average of 46.0 yards per punt vs. Sacramento State that was the first of seven consecutive contests with an average of 40.0 yards per punt followed by games at Arizona (5-42.2), vs. Colorado (4-42.0), at Washington State (4-40.2), vs. Washington (6-44.7), vs. UCLA (8-44.0) and vs. Oregon (4-41.0)
• Other punt numbers and averages included games at Oregon State (3-38.3), at Northwestern (4-35.8), at USC (4-34.2), vs. Stanford (4-32.8) and vs. BYU (4-32.5)
• Threw an incompletion in his lone pass attempt of the campaign on a fake punt attempt at USC
• A nominee for the Ray Guy Award and named for the first time to the preseason Ray Guy Award Watch List while being on the award’s watch list for the second consecutive season
• Also on the watch list for the College Football Performance Awards Punter Trophy
• Named third-team preseason All-Pac-12 by Lindy’s
• Honorable mention Pac-12 All-Academic for the second consecutive season
Sophomore (2013)
• Added to the Ray Guy Award Watch List for the nation’s top punter during the season and was a second-team All-Pac-12 pick of College Sports Madness
• Improved his punting average by 3.0 yards per punt from his 2012 rookie season, finishing with a career-high 42.9 mark that ranked third in the Pac-12 and eighth on Cal’s all-time single-season list on a total of 69 punts for 2,958 yards (both career highs) while playing in all 12 games off the bench
• Ranked third in the Pac-12 and 33rd nationally in punting
• Forced opponents to make 25 fair catches and pinned them inside their 20-yard line 14 times with only two touchbacks
• Had a career-long punt of 70 yards on his first punt of the campaign in the season-opener against Northwestern
• Had a career-high 14 punts of 50 or more yards with at least one in nine games including a career-high three of 50 or more yards at Colorado
• Pinned opponents inside their 20-yard line at least once in nine contests, including a season-high three times vs. Northwestern
• Forced opponents to make a fair catch at least three times on six occasions, including a season-high-tying four times both at Oregon and vs. Arizona
• Averaged a career-high 54.2 yards per punt on four attempts at Colorado to earn College Football Performance Awards Honorable Mention Punter Performer of the Week recognition for the third time after having earned the honor earlier in the season vs. Northwestern and Ohio State
• Other punt numbers and averages included games vs. Ohio State (4-49.0), vs. USC (4-45.8), vs. Washington State (5-44.0), vs. Arizona (7-43.7), vs. Northwestern (6-43.5), at UCLA (7-43.4), at Washington (10-42.8), vs. Oregon State (3-42.0), vs. Portland State (4-39.5), at Oregon (8-38.8) and at Stanford (7-35.6)
• Averaged 42.0 yards per punt or more for seven consecutive games at one point (vs. Washington State, at UCLA, vs. Oregon State, at Washington, vs. Arizona, vs. USC, at Colorado, at Stanford)
• Punted a career-high 10 times at Washington
• Completed his lone pass attempt of the campaign for a single yard at Stanford
• Named a Jonathan and Judy Hoff Scholar-Athlete of the Week
• A third-team preseason All-Pac-12 choice according to Phil Steele
• Honorable mention Pac-12 All-Academic for the first of three consecutive seasons
• Punted three times for an average of 37.7 yards in the spring game
Freshman (2012)
• Played in all 12 games off the bench and averaged 39.9 yards per punt, totaling 2,395 yards on 60 punts
• Forced opponents to make a career-high 26 fair catches and pinned them inside their 20-yard line 13 times with a career-low-tying one touchback
• Ranked ninth in the Pac-12 and 76th nationally in punting with a 39.9 yards per punt average, while Cal’s net punting average of 37.0 was 10th in the Pac-12 and 54th nationally
• Had eight punts of 50 or more yards including at least one in six of the first nine games, a season-high-tying two of 50 or more yards against both Arizona State and at Utah, and one each in three straight contests at Washington State (season-long 61), vs. Stanford (56) and at Utah (59)
• Pinned opponents inside their 20-yard line at least once in nine contests, including a season-high three vs. Stanford
• Forced opponents to make a fair catch at least three times on five occasions, including a career-high six against Arizona State, as well as five at Oregon State, four vs. Nevada and three each in back-to-back games at Washington State and vs. Stanford
• Averaged 40.0 yards per punt or more for seven consecutive games at one point (at Ohio State, at USC, vs. Arizona State, vs. UCLA, at Washington State, vs. Stanford, at Utah)
• Averaged a season-high 47.0 yards per punt on three tries at Ohio State, while other punt numbers and averages included games at Utah (3-46.7), at Washington State (4-45.5), at USC (4-43.0), vs. UCLA (3-42.0), vs. Arizona State (9-41.8), vs. Stanford (8-40.0), vs. Nevada (7-38.6), at Oregon State (7-37.0), vs. Oregon (5-36.6), vs. Washington (4-33.5) and vs. Southern Utah (3-30.7)
• Registered one tackle vs. Stanford for the lone stop of his career
Bartram Trail HS (Class of 2012)
• A second-team All-American as a 2011 senior who averaged 42.7 yards per punt in his final prep season, improving his average nine yards from two campaigns earlier as a sophomore
• Also scored a team-high 110 points on 14 made field goals and 68 extra points while putting 64 of his 90 kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks during a senior season in which he added Class 6A All-State, first-team All-River League and All-St. John’s County selections, while earning a spot on the Super 75 Team selected by The Florida Times-Union
• Stats during his 2010 junior campaign included an average of 38.7 yards per punt and a team-high 71 points on 11 field goals and 38 extra points, while he put 26 of 47 kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks
• Averaged 33.7 yards per punt as a 2009 sophomore while scoring 47 points on seven field goals and 26 extra points made
• Helped his team reach the Florida Class 6A semifinals in both of his final two prep seasons, going 7-4 during his junior campaign and 12-2 when he was a senior
Recruiting Notes (Class of 2012)
• Ranked No. 11 among the nation’s top punters by Chris Sailer, while ESPN had him as the No. 13 placekicker and 247Sports ranked him No. 21
• Given four and a half recruiting stars by Chris Sailer, while he picked up three from ESPN, and two each from Rivals, Scout and 247Sports
• ESPN also had him as the No. 138 player overall from the state of Florida
• Field goal champion at Chris Sailer’s 2012 national kicking event, hitting on kicks that would have been good from over 60 yards according to ESPN
Other
• Full name is Nicholas Ramsey Leininger
• Born December 15, 1993
• Parents are Mark and Cindy Leininger
• Graduated from Cal in December of 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in integrative biology
Leininger's Career Game Highs
Pass Completions: 1 (at Stanford, 2013)
Pass Attempts: 1 (at Stanford, 2013)
Passing Yards: 1 (at Stanford, 2013)
Long Pass: 1 (at Stanford, 2013)
Punts: 10 (at Washington, 2013)
Punting Yards: 428 (at Washington, 2013)
Punting Average: 54.2 (at Colorado, 2013)
Long Punt: 70 (vs. Northwestern, 2013)
Opponents’ Fair Catches: 6 (vs. Arizona State, 2012)
50+ Yard Punts: 3 (at Colorado, 2013)
Inside 20-Yard Line Punts: 5 (vs. UCLA, 2014)
Tackles: 1 (vs. Stanford, 2012)
Last Updated
June 14, 2016
