Fresno State football notebook: With better range, Kroening giving Bulldogs kicking-game options

At some point during the next 10 weeks, as Fresno State makes its way through the money part of their schedule in Mountain West Conference play, they might need to make a kick. Could be at the end of a half, could be at the end of a game, could be anywhere in the middle.

Coach Tim DeRuyter, however, will send his kicker out onto the field, looking at a try from 46, 47, maybe 48 yards on in, will do it with confidence, and most everything about that scenario is different than it was a year ago.

Except the name of the kicker, Kody Kroening, who held off a fall camp challenge from junior college transfer Jimmy Camacho with his consistency from 40 yards in. By extending his range, he is now giving the Bulldogs more options when on the plus side of the field.

“He has made huge gains,” DeRuyter said. “Now you’re starting to look at, ‘Hey, it’s a viable option to kick the football,’ where a year ago my thought process was we had to get inside the 20 before we felt comfortable in that 80% range. It obviously gives you a little bit more flexibility on what you want to do. You don’t have to go for things all the time. It’s nice to have a weapon where with a 50-yard field goal, you still feel like you have a 75% or so chance of making it.”

Kroening had come to Fresno State last fall as a freshman walk-on and few had expectations that he would play. The Bulldogs had a returning kicker in Colin McGuire, who had made some big kicks in his freshman season, and while McGuire was out during fall camp tending to personal matters at home in Texas, Kroening made it clear he was not quite yet that guy.

McGuire returned to kick in the opener at USC, but left the next day and just like that, ready or not, Kroening was the kicker.

He hit 3 of 3 extra-point tries in his first game, a loss at Utah, and 45 of 46 on the year. He made 9 of 14 field goal attempts, the longest from 44 yards.

But it was only late in the year that any sense of security developed.

The first time he ran out onto the field?

“Oh, man, it was a cool feeling to look around, but definitely nervous for sure,” he said. “You have 60,000 people looking at you, screaming your name. It was a cool experience. New kid here, got real nervous.”

It’s still cool, Kroening said. But he is much more used to it, comfortable in the setting.

“I kind of just adapted last year to the whole situation last year, tried to get used to the scheme of things here, get used to the team,” he said. “All the specialists helped me get comfortable basically and I just kind of grew with it, got more comfortable and over the summer just tried to better myself and I’m doing a little better this season. I’m feeling pretty good.

“I feel like people trust me more and I just feel better with myself and trust myself more with it.”

Kroening has hit both of his field goal attempts this season, from 40 in an opening victory against Abilene Christian and 35 last week in a loss to Utah. He is 10 of 10 on PATs. Camacho made one field goal from 36 yards and missed one from 50 against the Wildcats.

“I think in the spring (Kroening) was still a little bit up and down, but he clearly worked very hard this summer, got his leg strength better, and I think part of that is having competition,” DeRuyter said.

“He knew he was going to have a competition this fall. He, not by much, because I think both guys competed real well, but he was more consistent from the 40-yard line in and he has extended his length. (Tuesday) he hit a 51-yarder with the breeze not at his back but coming pretty good from the side and he hit it. He has made great improvement and it’s good to have him where he’s at right now.”

QB question still unanswered – DeRuyter declined to clarify the Bulldogs’ quarterback plans ahead of Saturday’s conference opener against San Jose State.

Zack Greenlee, Ford Childress and Kilton Anderson all have taken reps with the No. 1 offense during the week.

Greenlee, in normal circumstances, likely would be the man, but his status remains in question after his arrest last weekend on charges of public drunkenness and drinking in public. He has

Childress, a transfer in his first year in the program has thrown two passes in one game in relief of Greenlee and Chason Virgil, whose job-sharing is over with the loss of Virgil to a season-ending shoulder injury. Anderson is a redshirt freshman who has yet to see game action and fell behind early in fall camp in the competition for the starting job.

Redshirt receiver Reed remains that – Freshman wideout L.J. Reed, who has been working on the scout team, was moved up to work with the No. 1 and No. 2 offenses in game prep for San Jose State while Darrell Fuery moved back. The plan, however, is still to redshirt Reed, who made a strong bid to get onto the field this season in fall camp.

“Right now our plan is to redshirt him,” DeRuyter said. “Obviously, things can vary depending on health, but he’d been doing a decent job on the scout team and somebody on the travel was not. It’s always going to be a fluid situation if you’re not holding up your end of the bargain.”

The two-deep at the ‘X’ receiver for San Jose State, then, will be Da’Mari Scott and KeeSean Johnson. The ‘Z’ will be Josiah Blandin and Delvon Hardaway.

Down and distance – Fresno State converted a solid 46.7% of its third-down plays (7 of 15) in the loss to No. 21 Utah, but they were short on a couple that still irked five days later.

The Bulldogs in the first half gained 5 yards on a run by Marteze Waller on a third-and-6 and 9 on a pass from Chason Virgil to Scott on a third-and-10, and on their first series in the second half Virgil missed a throw on a third-and-2 play.

“The problem was we ended up fourth-and-1 too many times,” offensive coordinator Dave Schramm said. “I think there might have been two or three times we might have been fourth-and-1, so we have to impress upon our guys, ‘Hey, you have to fight for one more yard.’ Even if it’s on first down, so instead of second-and-7 we’re second-and-6, because all that adds up to being fourth-and-1 instead of first-and-10.

“It’s a process, but we have to do a better job. Our first- and second-down production has to be much better than it has been.”

The Bulldogs’ average distance on third-down plays to gain a first has been 6.4 yards against Abilene Christian, 6.9 at Ole Miss and 6.6 against Utah.

Despite that, they have converted their third downs at a 44.9% clip (22 of 49), third best in the conference and 32nd in the nation.

Et cetera – The Bulldogs have 10 first downs on 18 third-down rushing plays, averaging 4.06 yards per play. Through the air they have 12 first downs on 17 third-down completions and 31 pass attempts, averaging 9.2 yards per pass play. … Kroening on the gain in leg strength: “It’s all the strength and conditioning that we do here and eating a lot more trying to put on weight, focusing it more toward strength than body mass to get more strength in my legs.” … San Jose State has a few quarterback issues of its own. Starter Kenny Potter suffered an ankle injury in a loss last week at Oregon State, with Joe Gray and Malik Watson both playing in the second half. The Bulldogs faced Gray last season in a 38-24 victory at Bulldog Stadium. He was 26 of 44 for 350 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. …

This story was originally published September 24, 2015 at 9:29 PM with the headline "Fresno State football notebook: With better range, Kroening giving Bulldogs kicking-game options."