BOISE — It only hung for a couple days before being taken down, but Bronco Nation got a sneak peek earlier this month at the one of the banners that will hang on the east side exterior of Albertsons Stadium this season.
It featured Boise State punter James Ferguson-Reynolds holding out a football, with kicker Jonah Dalmas standing next to him with his arms crossed.
“It was really cool,” said Ferguson-Reynolds, who led the nation with 49.7 yards per punt a season ago. “It was a special moment for me and him and for myself personally, it only motivates me to keep going.”
At just about every other school in the country, a team highlighting its kicker and punter in this way might be scoffed at. Fans generally want to see the star quarterback, the speedy wide receiver or the hard-hitting linebacker. Many might not even know the names of their specialists.
At Boise State, however, it’s a little different. As Saturday’s season opener at Georgia Southern approaches, Ferguson-Reynolds and Dalmas have developed a bit of a cult following after both have found a lot of success as Broncos. Don’t believe it? Just go in Twitter/X and search the hashtag ‘#nukethefootball’ and you’ll find a loyal legion of fans singing the praises of Ferguson-Reynolds and Dalmas, warning of potential fallout that results from the power of their kicks.
“I’ve got a JFR and Jonah Dalmas shirt and I wear it all the time, I promise you that” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said about their fandom. “I’m a huge fan.”
Most of the time, when a punter is getting attention it’s an indictment on the office. Think of all the memes the internet made about Iowa’s punting game last season when the Hawkeyes were dead last in the FBS in total offense with just 235.4 yards per game. A kicker often will only get attention after they miss a huge field goal.
But there’s very little lack of confidence with the Broncos’ offense heading into the season, and Dalmas is eyeing the record for most accurate field goal kicker in NCAA history. The admiration for these two is genuine.
“They give James and I a good laugh every time that we see them,” Dalmas said about the memes, usually which depict him as a goat — The Greatest of All Time — and Ferguson-Reynolds as a kangaroo — a nod to his home of Australia. “It’s a cool little thing that we can put in our specialist group chats, like ‘heck yeah this is awesome.’ I just love it. I think it’s unique, but obviously, we need to get an edit of (long snapper) Mason (Hutton) in there. I’m going to have to talk with the ‘#nukethefootball’ guy about that.”
Along with Hutton, Ferguson-Reynolds and Dalmas have created a strong bond that has been apparent throughout fall camp. Whenever one of the three had interviews scheduled this fall, the others would come with them to Boise State’s recruiting lounge, even if they didn’t have interviews scheduled for that day.
“Honestly, it’s probably sometimes they have one mind and they just kind of start rolling,” said specialist coach Tyler Rausa. “If they end up in one place together, they just end up there. That’s them.”
Rausa says that their camaraderie makes for a fun specialist room, and he believes that plays a large part in what leads fans to be vocal about their support of Dalmas and Ferguson-Reynolds.
“It starts with them being great people,” Rausa said. “On and off the field, all three of them, and everybody in that room, are great individuals. They treat people with respect and that carries on to the field. When they do that and they get stuff right off the field, on the field it starts to come together. They do all the right things and from there they have some fun. People like when people have fun, especially at a high level, and then people just build on top of it.”
Of course, it also doesn’t hurt that they are two of the best in the country at their crafts. As mentioned earlier, Ferguson-Reynolds led the nation in punting average in 2023. The NCAA career field goal percentage record currently sits at 90% and Dalmas has made 80 of 90 field goals, or 88.9% in his career. He also sits 17 field goals shy of the most made in a career.
It’s not just in Boise where people have taken notice. Both have shown up on a variety of preseason All-America lists. And they have a realistic shot at pulling off something never done before in college football.
If Ferguson-Reynolds wins the Ray Guy Award, given to the nation’s top punter, and Dalmas wins the Lou Groza Award, awarded to the top kicker, they will be the first set of teammates to win the award in the same season.
“They do a great job together and the expectations are through the roof,” Danielson said. “That’s the awesome part of Jonah and James. I make no bones about it, two of the best in the entire country, period, end of story. And leading that with that whole group of what it takes to do that is awesome.”
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