ASU Adds FCS All-American Kicker Carson Smith, Good From 63 Yards

Kick a field goal from 63 yards and you have essentially turned the opponent's 46-yard line into a scoring opportunity. That is the arithmetic behind Arizona State's decision to sign Carson Smith, an FCS All-American kicker from Austin Peay who arrived in Tempe claiming game-day accuracy out to 62 and 63 yards.

The tactical implications are real. In the Big 12, where a single missed or made field goal routinely separates a conference win from a loss, a kicker with that kind of certified range changes how an offense approaches fourth down near midfield and whether a coordinator burns a timeout trying to get three more yards before sending out the field goal unit late in a half. Smith's leg pushes both of those calculations in ASU's favor.

His 2025 numbers at Austin Peay back the claim. Smith finished 14-of-17 on field goals, posted a 63.6-yard kickoff average with 47 touchbacks from 76 attempts, and went a perfect 53-for-53 on extra points, placing him among just five FCS kickers nationally to attempt 50 or more PATs without a miss. He scored 95 points for the Governors, ranking 31st in the FCS at 7.9 points per game. The American Football Coaches Association named him a First Team FCS All-American for 2025, and he earned United Athletic Conference Specialist of the Year honors.

The connection to ASU runs through special teams coordinator Jack Nudo, who coached Smith at both East Carolina in 2022 and Austin Peay in 2024. When Nudo was officially named Arizona State's permanent special teams coordinator after the 2025 season, he already had two years of firsthand film on his target. Smith fills the vacancy left by graduating kicker Jesus Gomez, who had been a clear upgrade over the three-kicker arrangement ASU relied on before his arrival.

That Nudo went back to the FCS pool is not an act of desperation but a function of how kicker evaluation actually works. A specialist's field goal percentage, touchback rate, and PAT consistency translate directly across subdivisions, and film from a coach who ran the same practice reps removes the uncertainty baked into most transfer portal decisions. Smith's metrics earned FCS All-American recognition for a reason, and the Sun Devils are betting that reason shows up in the Big 12.

A drive stalling at midfield in the fourth quarter used to mean a punt. With Smith on the roster, it might mean three points instead.