Stephen Gutierrez EDINBURG – Two UTRGV Football players from special teams are getting national recognition early into its season. Both players are on preseason watch lists for national awards, after their success during the team’s inaugural season.
Nathaniel Wallace-Dilling, fifth-year punter, was named to the FCS Punter of the Year Preseason Watch List. This list is used by the Augusta Sports Council to honor the top punter in FCS.
While he shares the list with fourteen other players in the country, Wallace-Dilling is the only one from the Southland Conference.
The punter said the recognition is especially meaningful for a position that does not always get the spotlight.
“We don’t get as much recognition as some of the other players,” he said. “But, to get that, it’s really important.”
Wallace-Dilling said one of his biggest strengths last season was pinning opponents deep and flipping the field.
During the 2025 season, he punted a career-high of 58 yards against Houston Christian University and finished 15th in the FCS and second in the SLC in punting average.
Now, with a season of starting experience behind him, he says he’s approaching this year with a different mindset.
“I feel like I came into this year with more of a relaxed mindset, kind of do my thing,” Wallace-Dilling said. “Have fun, taking the moment a bit more.”
Brysen Gardner, senior kicker, is also getting his own national recognition, landing on the Fred Mitchell Award watch list, an award which honors the top kicker among those on the more than 750 FCS, Division II, III, NAIA and NJCAA football teams, based on performance on the football field and in the community.
He said that recognition represents more than just his own work.
”This isn’t my award,” he said. “This is Connor. Nate. This is all the special teams, the guys around me. They’re all part of this award.”
Over the summer, the kicker says he’s spent the offseason extending his range in hopes to have even more success this year.
“I feel more confident from 55 and 55 and longer now, and I think that’s huge going into this next season,” Gardner said. “Longer field goals help win bigger ball games.”
Travis Bush, UTRGV Football head coach, said the recognition the two players are receiving is “huge” and “exciting.”
Also adding exactly how valuable the special teams unit is to the team, despite being often overlooked.
“I mean, there’s such an asset to this, this, this ball club,” He said. “A lot of people on the outside forget those guys. Those guys are the hidden yards, the hidden points.”
For Wallace-Dilling, Gardner and the rest of the special teams unit, the recognition is an “honor” but the ultimate goal is bigger.
“We want to win the conference for sure, [and] make a run in the playoffs,” Bush said.
The Vaqueros still have a long road ahead of them, entering their second game of the season on the road against UT San Antonio this Saturday at the Alamodome.
