When Ross Martin stepped on Duke’s campus in 2012, he knew that an unreliable field goal unit had plagued the Blue Devils' ability to post wins for much of the previous decade.
His predecessor, Will Snyderwine, who had an All-America caliber season in 2010, was coming off a 2011 campaign in which he only made 8-of-17 field goals. That included missing a 28-yard chip shot with less than two minutes remaining in a home loss to FCS opponent Richmond that defined a disappointing 2011 campaign in which the Blue Devils went 3-9 for the second straight season.
But Duke's struggles to put three points up on the board predated Snyderwine. From 2002-07, Blue Devil kickers combined to make just 54-of-98 field goals, converting just 55.1 percent of their tries. In 2007 alone, Duke only registered three field goals all season.
Head coach David Cutcliffe inherited kicker Nick Maggio when he arrived in 2008, and though he made 11 of his 14 field goals on the season, most of those came from inside 30 yards. Maggio was shaky from more than 40 yards and missed a critical game-winner Nov. 1, 2008 at Wake Forest, a game the Blue Devils went on to lose 33-30 in overtime.
In 2012, Martin—then a true freshman—simply put the history behind him. He was determined to enter his first fall camp, establish himself and do what previous kickers could not: build a legacy with his leg.
“From when I got here, it was a new era,” Martin said. “We had a lot of new players and new potential. I didn’t want to make that affect my performance or think about what [Snyderwine] did. At the end of the day, it was totally different players, new expectations.”
The new expectation during Martin’s freshman year in 2012 was winning. The Blue Devils went 6-6 and made their first postseason appearance since 1994 in the Belk Bowl. And unlike previous years, Martin and the kicking unit were consistent, knocking in 20-of-23 field goals with a long of 52 yards. He went on to garner Freshman All-America and honorable mention All-ACC accolades as Duke reasserted itself in the college football world.
But despite Martin’s accomplishments in his first year as a Blue Devil, there was no way of knowing what kind of season he would have in 2013, or for the rest of his career. Consistency is far from a given—just ask previous Duke kickers, who could never establish themselves as reliable scoring options. Or take Pittsburgh kicker Chris Blewitt, who missed a game-winning 26-yard field goal in Duke’s 51-45 win against the Panthers last November, but nailed a 56-yarder to beat Georgia Tech last weekend.
Martin overcome the consistency obstacle with his confidence. As a freshman, the Solon, Ohio, native was pressed into action quickly, giving him little time to adjust to playing Division I football. He did what he did best—use his leg to put points on the board.
“I don’t really think I had a chance to stop and think about the moment of playing college football,” Martin said. “It was like week one, you’d better get out there and perform.”
This helped make Martin mentally tough as kicker, which he said is critical to playing the position. He stayed confident in 2013, even though he only converted 13-of-19 attempts that season. But the numbers didn’t phase him, as he knocked in attempts from 51 and 53 yards to help beat then-No. 14 Virginia Tech and made the game-winning 27-yard field goal against North Carolina to clinch a spot in the ACC championship game.
The next season, Martin bounced back and reasserted himself as one of the nation’s best kickers, converting 19-of-21 field goals with only one miss from closer than 50 yards all year. So far in 2015, Martin is a perfect 12-for-12 and is finding himself on midseason All-America rosters. In ideal conditions, he said he would be comfortable kicking a 60-yard attempt.
“My confidence level is at an all-time high, as it should be,” Martin said. “Seniors are expected to lead the team, they’re expected to be the role models for the younger guys. I want players thinking about me later on saying, ‘He was a consistent guy, a reliable guy.’”
Apart from his confidence, Martin’s relationship on and off the field with punter Will Monday and long snapper Thomas Hennessy has helped the trio establish a consistent routine. Until rainy conditions caused Monday to mishandle two snaps against Georgia Tech last month, the Blue Devils had not missed an extra point since a blocked PAT in the Belk Bowl in 2012.
“They need to do their job in order for me to touch the ball,” Martin said. “I have so much confidence in them, so it’s on me. I need to finish the job.”
As the Blue Devils enter their most crucial stretch of the season, which includes games against fellow Coastal Division frontrunners Miami, North Carolina and Pittsburgh, the weight could very well be on Martin’s shoulders to knock a game-changing field goal through the uprights. But just as Duke has come to expect to win every game on its schedule, Martin has come to expect every field goal to sail between the goalposts.
This is what fuels a winning mentality.
“[Winning] is definitely the new standard here,” Martin said. “All of the seniors, we don’t know a season where we haven’t gone to a bowl game. It’s not necessarily a high standard, but it's an expectation. It’s something that we expect to do at the end of the year.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.