5. Air Force
Projected starters: Matthew Dapore (K), Carson Bay (P)
The Falcons’ specialists are young but the early returns have been very promising. Dapore was perfect on extra point opportunities and 8-of-10 on field goals while Bay supplanted Charlie Bein as Air Force’s punter and put up the team’s best per-punt average since 2018 (among those with at least 15 punts). Perhaps more so than any other team in the Mountain West, the potential here is big.
4. Colorado State
Projected starters: Cayden Camper (K), Paddy Turner (P)
Camper became the nation’s busiest kicker in 2021, leading FBS with 32 field goal tries and managing a healthy 78.1% success rate in the process, so the Rams are likely set on that front.
Great expectations are certain to be thrust upon Turner, however, since he’ll have to replace the best punter in college football history, Ryan Stonehouse. He followed Jay Norvell from Nevada to Fort Collins, so the familiarity is there and, at least according to the current roster, there are no plans to bring in competition.
3. Boise State
Projected starters/frontrunners: Jonah Dalmas (K),James Ferguson-Reynolds (P)
Dalmas emerged as a pleasant surprise in an often-frustrating year for the Broncos, putting up perhaps the best season ever by a Boise State kicker to entrench himself at the position. It isn’t inconceivable that he could be the one to replace Joel Velazquez, too, though his brief punting stint in 2020 (35.8 YPP vs. Colorado State that year) wasn’t all that great.
Thankfully, Dalmas isn’t the only one with experience on the roster. Ferguson-Reynolds is an intriguing Austrailian import who will have to compete with Gavin Wale, who saw action against BYU in 2020 and was merely okay (39.4 YPP), and redshirt freshman Will Farrin.
2. Utah State
Projected starters/frontrunners: Connor Coles (K), Stephen Kotsanlee (P)
Connor Coles had a productive 2021 and was rock solid on field goal tries from with 40 yards (14-of-16), so his return for one more year gives the Aggies a substantial leg up — no pun intended — on the competition in this conference.
Utah State also has no concerns in the punting game, either, where Kotsanlee improved by nearly two full yards per punt from his freshman to his sophomore campaign. For a team facing a great deal of competition, another step forward in year three could make more of a difference in the long run than you’d suspect.
1. Wyoming
Projected starters/frontrunners: John Hoyland (K), Ralph Fawaz (P)
Steady wins the race (slow doesn’t really apply here) most of the time, so the Cowboys’ unassuming duo gets the nod here. Fawaz, for instance, quietly had one of the best seasons by a Mountain West freshman punter not named Ryan Stonehouse in recent memory, at least putting himself in reasonably company with former Cowboys Ethan Wood and Tim Gleeson.
Hoyland wasn’t quite as sharp in his sophomore campaign as he was in his freshman year, but he still owns a 82.1% field goal success rate that would put him in the conference’s all-time top five if he qualified.
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