One of the more versatile and dangerous punters in the country … able to show off his arm on a couple fake punts that proved to be big plays … will be the primary placeholder and punter once again for the Mountaineers.
2015: Played in all 13 games as the Mountaineers’ primary punter, kicker on kickoffs and placeholder … punted 51 times for a total of 2,212 yards … his 43.4 punt average was fourth in the conference and 37th in the country … had season-long 60-yard punt against Georgia Southern … forced 14 fair catches, compiled 17 punts that went longer than 50 yards … downed the ball times inside the 20 … kicked off four times for a total of 253 yards and three touchbacks … displayed his arm against UL Monroe with a fake-punt pass for 14 yards that led to a touchdown for Appalachian while his exciting 36-yard pass on fourth down later led to six points for the Black and Gold.
2014: Entered the season as Appalachian State’s primary punter but wound up also handling place-kicking and kickoff duties for much of the campaign ... averaged 40.7 yards per punt (eighth in the Sun Belt Conference) ... four of his 41 punts traveled 50-plus yards (9.8 percent), 12 -of-41 were downed inside the 20 yard line (29.3 percent) and 9-of-41 were fair-caught (22.0 percent) ... much of the reason for the drop in his punting average from his freshman campaign was due to Appalachian employing several “rugby-style” punts throughout the season to help offset a lack of depth on punt coverage teams ... due to a back injury sustained by place kicker Zach Matics during Appalachian’s loss at Georgia Southern, Critcher took over kickoff duties for seven games (from midway through Game 4 at GS through Game 10 win over Arkansas State) and averaged 55.7 yards per kick with 19 touchbacks ... also due in large part to Matics’ injury, Critcher took over place-kicking duties prior to Game 6 versus Liberty and handled field goals and PATs for the final seven games of the season ... made 34-of-38 extra points and 7-of-10 field goals ... drilled his first two field-goal attempts against Liberty but missed a 32-yarder at the end of regulation that would have been the game-winner in the Mountaineers’ eventual 55-48 overtime loss ... made four of his next five attempts with the only miss coming from 44 yards out during a driving snowstorm against Georgia State ... made the biggest kick of the season when he drilled a 39-yarder with 29 seconds remaining to lift App State to a thrilling 31-29 victory over UL Monroe ... named Sun Belt Special Teams Player of the Week after kicking the game-winning field goal vs. ULM ... made a season-long 49-yarder in the first quarter of a 45-28 season-ending victory over Idaho.
2013: Averaged 45.9 yards per punt as a walk-on true freshman ... 45.9-yard average led the Southern Conference, ranked second in NCAA Division I FCS and ranked fifth among all NCAA Division I punters, regardless of class ... also ranked second among all Division I freshmen (behind only future Sun Belt Conference counterpart Austin Rehkow of Idaho, who topped all of Division I with a 47.8-yard average as a freshman) ... placed 17th in voting for the Jerry Rice Award, given to the FCS Freshman of the Year ... is one of only three specialists to be among the 20 finalists for the Rice Award in the three-year history of the award ... named third-team all-America by The Sports Network ... named first-team freshman all-America by College Sports Journal ... first-team all-Southern Conference selection by the league’s coaches and media ... also named to the SoCon’s all-freshman team ... 45.9-yard average was good for third in Appalachian State single-season history and the best ever by a Mountaineer freshman ... 18 of his 51 punts traveled 50 yards or more and 15 were downed inside the 20 ... averaged 45 yards or more per punt in 8-of-12 games and better than 50 yards three times ... opponents managed to return just 19 of his punts and Appalachian State led the SoCon with a whopping 40.6-yard net punting average, nearly two yards better than the league’s next-closest team (Elon - 38.5 net/punt) ... after averaging 40 yards per boot and having one blocked in the opener at Montana, he averaged 47.9 yards over seven punts the next week against North Carolina A&T ... two of his punts against N.C. A&T traveled 50-plus yards, including a 61-yarder ... named SoCon Special Teams Player of the Week following the performance against A&T ... named National Special Teams Player of the Week by USA College Football after averaging 54.9 yards over nine punts against Samford ... set a school record against SU with eight of his punts traveling 50 yards or more, including a season-best 63-yarder ... the previous school record of seven 50-yard punts in a game stood for 22 years (Harold Alexander vs. Marshall in 1991) ... the eight punts of 50-plus yards are more than any player in FBS history (record: 7 by Colorado’s Mark Mariscal vs. USC in 2002), however, the NCAA does not keep such a record for FCS so it is unknown if Critcher’s mark set an FCS or all-Division I record ... the 54.9-yard average against Samford is good for fourth in Appalachian State single-game history and is the highest ever by a Mountaineer that punted as many as nine times in a game ... four of his nine punts against SU were also downed inside the 20 yard line ... boomed a 61-yard punt in rout over No. 24-ranked Georgia Southern ... only punt in win at No. 24 Wofford traveled 50 yards and was downed inside the 20 yard line ... averaged 52.0 yards per punt in season finale against Western Carolina with two that traveled 50-plus yards (including a 62-yarder) and one that was downed inside the 20.
High School: Rated as a three-star prospect by Scout.com ... ranked as the nation’s No. 16 punter and No. 22 kicker by Kohl’s Kicking Camps ... did it all for Warner Christian Academy, playing wide receiver, safety and handling punting and kicking duties ... coached by Steve Allen.
Personal: Full name is Bentlee A. Critcher ... brother, Kenlee, was a walk-on defensive back for Appalachian State in 2010 but did not see game action ... Bentlee is majoring in business and marketing education ... member of Appalachian State athletics’ academic honor roll ... was also a member of the Southern Conference academic honor roll.
