Boise State numerical roster countdown 2015: Day 49, Tyler Rausa

49 days people! We have 49 Days for the start a long awaited "Christmas in September." With that, let us talk about—Tyler Rausa

#49, Tyler Rausa, RS Junior, PK

Stats

Height: 5' 9"

Weight: 195

High School: Vista Murrieta HS, Murrieta, CA via Riverside CC

How'd he get to the Blue™?

Rausa was quite the kicking prodigy for Vista Murrieta, hitting 40-for-49 on field goals (19-for-21 as a senior) with a long of 51yds. These feats made him the all-time leading kicker in school and Inland Empire Region history. Despite the record setting career, Rausa was only able to manage a walk-on spot at Nevada. Fortunately for the Broncos, that didn't work out and he enrolled at Riverside CC instead where he played in the fall of 2012. At Riverside, he was 15-for-20 with a long of 48yds on field goals and 53-for-53 on PATs. This all-league performance earned Rausa a scholarship offer from Boise State where he eventually enrolled.

Nickname

"Zeuslazer"

Welp. It's on his Twitter account, so it's better than what I was trying to come up with.

Look-a-like

Young Kenny Chesney

Career Highlights

For Boise State, he made a PAT at Wyoming. That's it (so far). In high school he was a three-year letter winner at Vista Murrieta High School where he was named first-team All-Southwestern League as a sophomore, junior and senior Earned MaxPreps All-America honors as a senior and was named Los Angeles TimesCalifornia Special Teams Most Valuable Player and first-team all-state. Rausa was also three-year letter winner in baseball hitting over .330 over his high school career.

2015 Prospectus

Pretty simple formula for a kicker: 1) Making PATs; 2) booting kickoffs to the back of the end zone and; 3) making important (like, really, really, really important) field goals; 4) profit. Right? RIGHT!?

Eh. Not so much.

Being a kicker can make you either the G.O.A.T. or the goat. You never really realize how valuable one or three points are until it's late in the fourth quarter and those points are what are separating you from Rose Bowl berth and the Las Vegas Bowl. We have all felt the cruel sting of a kick that missed by "thismuch." And we have all had the gut reaction--unfairly so--of blaming the poor unfortunate soul that booted said kick. Football is a very much a team sport (and fans can be REALLY fickle), and it definitely takes more than one kick, and ten seconds from a clock, to determine the outcome of a game.

So where does that take us with Mr. Rausa? Well, he made one kick last year. Which is good, at least he did not miss. But he was behind Dan Goodale. And Mr. Goodale was, well, pretty good. When you have a kicker that makes 93.5% of his PATs, 80% of his FGs (both career totals), was good enough for MWC Honorable Mention two years running, and a Lou Groza Award Candidate, you pretty much need to go with the hot "foot." But that should not discount what Rausa brings to the table and his chances to accomplish something great at Boise State. Just means he is EXTRA ready. Near the end of last year, supposedly, Rausa was pushing Goodale for an opportunity to take game time. Which bodes well for the Broncos. With a defense that should be pretty decent, and an offense that has capabilities to create opportunities to put points on the board, the kicking is going to be an extremely important part of the game. The Broncos will not be able to afford to leave points off the board with a haywire kick. Rausa has the makings to do well and I hope he is the G.O.A.T. and not the goat.

Is he on Twitter?

Yep. And a pretty fun one to follow.

A little Brad Paisley this fine Boise afternoon

— ZEUSLAZER (@T_Raus) July 13, 2015

Completely Made Up Fact

Much like Paul Bunyan, Rausa created the many lakes of Minnesota. Only substitute "lakes" with "pancakes" and "Minnesota" with "International House of Pancakes."