Punt, hold & pass

South Carolina senior Kai Kroeger is not only one of the best punters in the country, but he’s proven to be a dangerous passer.

Kroeger, who last season averaged 46.1 yards on 58 punts and pinned opponents inside their 20-yard line 29 times, is 6 for 6 on career passes for 173 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Last year Kroeger, the holder on place kicks, had a 23-yard touchdown pass on a fake field goal against Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl and a 48-yard touchdown pass on a fake punt against Florida.

In 2021, Kroeger threw a 44-yard touchdown pass against Tennessee on a fake punt.

Kroeger, a backup quarterback at Lake Forrest (Ill.) High School, said it’s been fun to put his passing skills to work and he’s ready whenever Coach Shane Beamer is ready to call a fake.

“I have a lot more in me hopefully,” Kroeger said. “But it just depends on the look the other team is giving us. Especially now, teams are going to be looking for [fakes]. They’re going to be expecting it. But hopefully we can come up with something unique.”

Beamer is a former special teams coordinator, and his father, Frank Beamer, was known for his standout special teams at Virginia Tech.

Beamer is going into his third season at South Carolina as Will Muschamp’s replacement.

“It’s not that special teams were pushed to the side under the previous staff, but we didn’t spend as much time on them as we do now,” Kroeger said. “We spend an extra five minutes in a meeting or an extra 10 minutes in practice each day, and it makes a difference. You’ve been able to see it in the games.

“It doesn’t seem like that much, but when you add it up for the week, you’ve had an extra hour of practice on special teams.”