Kai Kroeger making difference in South Carolina's success

There were a handful of players who were critical to South Carolina’s upset win over Clemson last Saturday. But none were more important than Kai Kroeger.

Kroeger averaged 53.7 yards per punt and pinned the Tigers three times inside their own 5-yard line, twice in the fourth quarter. Clemson didn’t make it into Carolina territory on those drives.

If South Carolina’s offense was struggling to get a first down, it would try to get in good spots for Kroeger to kick away.

“We called another screenplay just to get positive yards so he could flip the field,” Spencer Rattler said. “I said, ‘Kai, go flip the field, man.’ So he kicked it 70 yards, 60 yards, however far it was. He did a great out there. He was kicking the heck out of the ball.”

Three of his kicks traveled more than 60 yards, all in the second half. One of his shortest punts of the day turned out to be the biggest.

With the Gamecocks leading 31-30 with less than three minutes to go in the game, Clemson would be getting the football back. Or so the Tigers thought.

Kroeger’s final punt of the day sailed 45 yards, landing in the hands of Antonio Williams. With room to run, Williams cut up toward midfield when Nate Adkins punched the ball out from behind him. South Carolina recovered the loose ball, ultimately setting up a game-icing drive.

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“I saw we had three guys all around it and I started jumping and throwing my fists in the air — I was going crazy,” Kroeger said.

Head coach Shane Beamer awarded Kroeger with a game ball for his heroics. Beamer, almost left speechless, could only utter the words, “How about Kai Kroeger?”

“I mean, the way that he controlled field position with those punts,” Beamer said. “We told our guys on special teams, not just defense, but our guys on kickoff cover and punt cover, ‘There’s going to be opportunities to get down there and knock the ball out against their punt return and kick return.'”

While this was Kroeger’s best game of the season, it’s nothing new for him. He’s currently tied for second in the nation with 46.8 yards per punt. Nearly 52 percent of his punts have landed inside the 20-yard line, meaning opponents don’t usually start in great field position.

And it’s not just punting that he’s been excellent at. Kroeger, the team’s placeholder, has been integral in the kicking game. Mitch Jeter has made all 10 of his field goal tries and only missed two extra-point attempts this year.

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Special teams coordinator Pete Lembo has called Kroeger the best holder in the country.

“Kai has got that confidence about him, that even-keeled nature about him,” Lembo said. “I don’t think we talk enough about what a fabulous holder he is because he’s really done some incredible things there and obviously he’s punted the ball well here these last couple weeks.”

Just like years past, Kroeger hasn’t skipped a beat in passing situations. South Carolina loves to draw up the occasional trick play and Kroeger has been in the middle of the action. This season, he has completed three passes for 84 yards and a touchdown.

With all Kroeger has done, one would think he would be a lock for the Ray Guy Award, which is given to the best punter in the country. But that won’t be the case.

When the finalists for the College Football Awards were announced Tuesday, Kroeger wasn’t nominated. Cincinnati’s Mason Fletcher, Michigan State’s Bryce Barringer and Rutgers’ Adam Korsak were the three finalists.

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Beamer took to Twitter to express his concerns when he found out.

“Do the people that vote on this actually WATCH football?” Beamer tweeted. “What a joke.”

Despite missing out on the award, Kroeger has kept his focus on the team’s success and not on himself. With consecutive wins against then-No. 5 Tennessee and No. 8 Clemson, the Gamecocks are starting to turn heads.

“It shows everyone that we’re here and we’re not this scrub program that everyone liked to say we were,” Kroeger said. “I just couldn’t be prouder of the guys and where we are at right now. I can’t wait for the future.”

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