The difference between 6-6 and 9-3 for NC State? Look at the kicking game

The best judge of N.C. State’s kicking success this season is not N.C. State kicker Chris Dunn.

The freshman wasn’t around for the Wolfpack’s previous kicking problems. So as Dunn prepares for the Gator Bowl on Monday against No. 19 Texas A&M (8-4), he looks at his productive All-ACC season a bit differently than his older teammates.

“Hopefully next year, I can have a little bit better of a season,” Dunn said. “I know it was only three (misses) but there’s still room for improvement.”

Compare Dunn’s demurred response to that of fifth-year center Garrett Bradbury, who lived through the heartbreaking loss at Clemson in 2016 and some other close calls decided, in part, by N.C. State’s inability to make the equivalent of a layup in the kicking game.

“Amazing,” Bradbury said. “Incredible. Awesome. He has been phenomenal.”

Dunn made all 50 of his extra point kicks and went 21 of 24 on his field goals. He made second-team All-ACC behind fellow freshman Andre Szmyt of Syracuse, who went 30 of 34 on field goals this season but also has the benefit of kicking indoors for his home games.

Good kickers are perfectionists and prone to give their process the “Fight Club” treatment (The first rule of being a kicker: you don’t talk about being a good kicker).

Dunn credits his routine and his teammates for his success. Staying off of social media, he said, has been a help, too.

“Being me, being consistent and sticking with what has made me successful so far was the thing I tried to carry throughout the season,” Dunn said. “Just staying true to who I was.”

Dunn, who is from Lexington, understood the situation he walked into and the pressure that was on him this season. He made his first attempt of the season, a 25-yard chip shot in the opener against James Madison. That was probably the best thing that could have happened for him mentally.

The Wolfpack ranked last among Power 5 teams in the three seasons from 2015-17 in field-goal makes (26) and percentage (50.9). For a team hovering in the six to eight-win range, and prone to close losses, N.C. State was clobbered in the kicking game during those three years. Their opponents made 83 percent (49 of 59) of their field goals.

This season, N.C. State had an edge in both percentage (87.5 to 76.1) and makes (21 to 16) over its opponents. Dunn also pushed the Wolfpack to second in the ACC and ranked in the top 10 nationally in both categories.

The difference between a 6-6 regular season in 2016 and a 9-3 mark in 2018 can be tied to the kicking game. N.C. State was 2-4 in games decided by a single possession in 2016 with the notable overtime loss at Clemson, after the potential winning 33-yard field goal by Kyle Bambard was pushed wide right at the end of regulation.

N.C. State has a 2-1 record this season in single-score games. The 34-28 overtime win at North Carolina on Nov. 24 was aided in part by a missed 37-yard field goal by the Tar Heels in overtime.

Dunn didn’t have any game-deciding kicks this season but he made the kicks he was supposed to. Nineteen of his 21 field goals were shorter than 35 yards. His long, a 44-yarder, came in a 35-21 win over Virginia.

There was a comfort to Dunn’s consistency this season.

“I never would come off the field and ... have to look, with fingers crossed,” Bradbury said. “I know it’s going in. I trust him, I trust that field-goal operation. That just has been so much comfort and peace of mind for us this season.”

Dunn missed 43-yarder in the opener and a 31-yarder in the rain in at the end of a 17-point win at Marshall on Sept. 22. He had a 19-yarder blocked by Boston College in a 28-23 win on Oct. 6.

Since then, he has made 13 in a row. Dunn said he learned from the misses.

“I looked at the misses after the game, figured out what I did wrong,” Dunn said. “I think I corrected those mistakes, clearly because it didn’t happen the rest of the season.”

This story was originally published December 29, 2018 at 12:05 PM.