Iowa State specialists Kyle Konrardy and Tyler Perkins share special bond

Editor’s note: Eighth in a 9-part series looking at the Iowa State football team ahead of the season opener on Aug. 23.

AMES — Kyle Konrardy leaves the excitement — and the anxiety — to the fans.

The former walk-on turned Iowa State second-year starting placekicker never flinched when drilling a 54-yard game-winning field goal in last season’s Cy-Hawk game against Iowa.

And the Dubuque native’s eyes didn’t light up when he was asked to relive that feat either.

That’s because Konrardy’s mind centers on craft, not results. If he does the right things on a daily basis, good things happen on the field.

It’s as basic as that: Plain, mundane, yet powerful.

“Obviously, I’m very thankful for the moment,” said Konrardy, who converted 21 of his 28 field goal attempts last season. “Just getting the opportunity to (help) create such a change in our program and have a profound impact as awesome. Moving forward, it’s not really in my mind. I’m just trying to live my life and focus on the next game.”

That “next game” is this season’s “Week 0” opener against Kansas State in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland. And Konrardy’s not the only ISU specialist who could play a key role in the outcome of this unique opener between the bitter rivals.

Former starting placekicker Jace Gilbert looks to retain his kickoff duties after turning three quarters of last season’s kickoffs into touchbacks. Fourth-year starting punter Tyler Perkins already is averaging a program record 43.4 yards per boot. And electric transfer Xavier Townsend, among others, look to rev up the return game.

In short: Strong special teams win games — as Konrardy proved last September at Kinnick Stadium.

“They’re all motivated to be the best,” ISU head coach Matt Campbell said of his specialists. “I think they all have elite traits and talent, and we’re gonna need those guys to be at their best for us to be the best team, especially early on.”

Perkins and Konrardy share a unique bond as holder and kicker. And Perkins placed the football for Konrardy’s momentous field goal that gave the Cyclones a 20-19 win over the Hawkeyes. He’s seen his younger kicker’s commitment to craft develop alongside his own’s.

“That was a really fun moment, getting to hold the game-winning field goal and all that,” said Perkins, who for the second straight season will donate a portion of his NIL funds to food banks. “I try to make things right for him. Little things, like if we’re kicking into the wind, kind of getting the ball a little bit forward for him to hit a better ball. He’s gonna be huge. He’s gonna have another huge season.”

Speaking of huge — and you don’t often say this about punters — Perkins has added eight pounds of muscle while shedding 11 pounds of fat. So he’s disciplined as well as attentive to detail.

“I think I’m getting more consistent,” he said. “I’m hitting a bigger ball, too. So I look forward to this year. It should be huge.”

Konrardy feels the same way — and he’s added five pounds to his 6-foot-1 frame. He’s also fine-tuning his game, particularly on longer field goal attempts. That’s because six of Konrardy’s seven misses last season came from 40 yards out and farther.

“In the offseason, I really focused on my bad ball not being as bad,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s confusing or not. But my bad balls were missing left, missing right a lot, but now I’m working on (being) more consistent with a straight ball; more contact and just more pure of a hit.”

He certainly connected perfectly in that game-winner at Kinnick that helped set the stage for the best start in ISU history (7-0) and most wins on program history (11).

But as Konrardy said, that triumph has zero bearing on what happens this season. So he just works. And works. And rarely smiles or frowns no matter which way his kicks veer.

“Obviously, you’re gonna have these misses,” Konrardy said. “It’s all about coming back from them. Nobody’s perfect, but if you can respond in a positive way — as a Cyclone, that’s what we work on a lot. That’s really awesome to do.”

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