Brandon Ruiz is poised and confident.
He believes he can be the best kicker in the country, even as a freshman.
But even Ruiz feels the weight of expectations on him. "Sometimes it kind of scares me how much faith they have in me," he said. "But I go out there and perform well for them."
Like Zane Gonzalez for four years, who left ASU as the NCAA career record holder for field goals and points by a kicker and as a senior won the Groza Award winner as the nation's premier kicker. The pressure comes in replacing Gonzalez with no appreciable drop-off, something that's too often assumed because of Ruiz's success in high school.