FSU football: Can kicker Ryan Fitzgerald perform well in 2023?

FSU football expectations have skyrocketed after the Seminoles achieved their 25th 10-win season in program history. There seems to be no player on the Seminoles’ roster with more pressure and heightened expectations this season than redshirt junior kicker Ryan Fitzgerald. The Coolidge (Ga.) native began the 2022 season connecting on four of his nine field goal attempts.

It was a rough start for the talented kicker, who made 10 of his 13 field goal attempts in 2021.
The football team never lost hope in Fitzgerald throughout his time of adversity. In fact, during the North Carolina State contest, Florida State head football coach Mike Norvell elected to kick a 47-yard field goal to hopefully give the Seminoles a 17-3 lead going into halftime.

As the field goal attempt went through the uprights, players from the Florida State sideline came to cheer on Fitzgerald for making the kick. The celebration looked as though he had just kicked the game-winning field goal in the national championship game.

Unfortunately, FSU football lost to North Carolina State by a score of 19-17 after quarterback Jordan Travis threw an interception in the end zone on 2nd down & 8 when they were at the North Carolina State 22-yard line with 38 seconds left to go in the game.

If Fitzgerald had not been 4-for-9 on-field attempts heading into the contest and struggling with confidence, would head football coach Mike Norvell has made the decision to run the football and set up for the potential game-winning field goal? On a positive note, after that kick, Fitzgerald converted on 7 of his last 10 field goal attempts to end the season.

During the offseason, the Seminoles decided to give Fitzgerald some competition in the position room, with East Tennessee State redshirt senior kicker Tyler Keltner transferring into the program. Originally from Tallahassee, Keltner had a productive career with the Buccaneers where he was 56-for-74 on field goal attempts and 131-of-131 on PATs. Fitzgerald didn’t have any competition last year, so we’ll see if the added competition will allow him to improve his game in 2023.