Will Boise State’s Dalmas end his career as the program’s most productive kicker?

Editor’s note: This is the ninth installment of a series exploring the top 10 questions surrounding the Boise State football team this season. Articles ran every week in July and wrap up this week. They’re all accompanied by a video online featuring Idaho Statesman reporter Ron Counts and Boise State super-fan Jacob Bleymaier. The videos also appear on his Bronco Bleymaier YouTube channel.
A former Boise State kicker may have joined the Broncos’ coaching staff just in time to watch the team’s record book get rewritten.
Former Boise State kicker Tyler Rausa joined the staff as a special teams assistant in July.
He’ll mentor senior kicker Jonah Dalmas, who connected on 26 field goals in 2021, setting Boise State’s single-season record, which Rausa owned since hitting 25 in 2015.
Dalmas has a chance to continue rewriting Boise State’s record book this year. He ranks No. 2 in program history with 56 field goals, and he needs just 12 to surpass Kyle Brotzman (2007-2010) and move into No. 1 all-time.
Boise State football coach Andy Avalos said working with Rausa on a daily basis could be the boost Dalmas needs, not just to end his career as the most productive kicker in program history but take his game to the next level.
“(Rausa) was very successful here, and he had the opportunity to move on and play at the professional level,” Avalos said Monday. “That’s valuable experience, not only within the position but what it means in the preparation and what it means to do this at an elite level.”
Rausa, who was the Broncos’ primary kicker in 2015 and 2016, hit 34 field goals in those two seasons. He’s tied with Roberto Moran (1985-86) for No. 8 in program history.
Rausa, 30, spent last year with the Tampa Bay Bandits in the relaunched USFL. In 2020, he signed a free-agent deal with the Washington Defenders of the XFL, which also relaunched this year.
The native of Murrieta, California, is just beginning his coaching career, but Avalos said his experience and personality have already helped him earn the players’ trust.
“Tyler has an unbelievable passion for this,” Avalos said. “He loves helping people. He loves what goes into the position, and his ability to provide some insight into what it looks like to be successful is huge.”
Rausa and Dalmas have worked together on and off for the past few years. They gathered when they could to kick field goals in empty stadiums in the area, including at Rocky Mountain High in Meridian, which is where Dalmas starred in soccer and football.
Dalmas calls kicking a game of centimeters, and he said he can’t think of anyone he trusts more than Rausa to fine-tune his approach and help him achieve his dream of kicking in the NFL.
“He’s been doing this for a long time, and he knows all the tricks of the trade,” Dalmas said in March. “The smallest tweak can either do wonders or go horribly wrong. You really just have to work without overthinking things.”
Dalmas has been open about his aspirations to kick in the NFL since 2021 — the year he set the Broncos’ single-season record. Who knows if that dream will ever come to fruition, but Avalos said he has already left an impression on his teammates, which he said is worth more than any record.
“He has the trust of the guys in the locker room,” Avalos said. “He’s on the leadership council for a reason. The guys know he’s going to be consistent in his preparation and he’s going to deliver.”
Dalmas led all Mountain West kickers with 23 field goals last season and ranked No. 3 in the conference with an 85.2 field goal percentage.
A crowded field
Dalmas isn’t likely to set the NCAA record for career field goals this year. That was broken just last season by N.C. State kicker Christopher Dunn, who finished his career with 97.
He’s also going to have a hard time catching the Mountain West’s career leader, Brandon Talton, who has 68 heading into the fifth year of his career at Nevada.
Kicker is an impressively deep position in the Mountain West this year.
Dalmas and Talton are joined by the defending Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Year, San Diego State’s Jack Browning. He hit 20-of-25 field goals and averaged 46.1 yards per punt as the Aztecs’ primary punter last season.
Browning was picked to repeat as Special Teams Player of the Year by conference media members in July.
Wyoming kicker John Hoyland is also back after he hit 88% (22-of-25) of his field goals last season, which ranked No. 2 in the Mountain West.