Calmness, Experience Play Key Role in Strong Start for ASU Football’s Jesus Gomez

TEMPE, Ariz. – Just under one year ago, Arizona State’s kicking game was in such a dark place that ASU football coach Kenny Dillingham said the team would be holding tryouts for a new kicker.

“If you can kick and you’re at Arizona State, email me,” Dillingham said in a viral interview last season following the team’s 24-14 loss in Cincinnati.

Now, less than a year later, the stormy cloud engulfing ASU’s kicking situation has completely cleared due to the addition of senior kicker Jesus Gomez.

Gomez’s first big test

As time expired this weekend against Baylor, Gomez’s 43-yard field goal soared right down the middle of the uprights.

The Sun Devils’ kicker didn’t have to look to know, turning to celebrate the 27-24 victory with his teammates before the ball even went through the uprights.

The Sun Devil Southpaw 🎯@ASUFootball kicker Jesus Gomez kicks the 43-yd game-winning field goal to get the win on the road. pic.twitter.com/OyMmSkjPKa

— Kicker Update (@kickerupdate) September 21, 2025

Winning the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week award was just the cherry on top.

“It’s like another kick, I’ve done this many, many times … so I just got to do it one more time,” Gomez said. “I trust the whole operation, the o-line, the snap, hold…it’s a team effort.”

Gomez’s journey to Tempe

Gomez attended Prepa Tec Puebla High School in Municipio de Puebla, Mexico, before enrolling at Eastern Michigan University.

As an Eagle, Gomez had quite a four-year run. His first batch of collegiate field goals came against the Sun Devils in 2021 in a 30-21 upset win.

Gomez recorded three field goals in the win, which ended up being the difference.

He was named to the Second Team All-MAC team the following year. As a junior, became the first kicker in EMU program history to record multiple 50-plus-yard field goals in a single game.

Gomez entered the transfer portal on December 2, and about two weeks later, he found his home in Tempe.

“Ever since I got here, it just felt like home,” Gomez said. “That type of energy helps you get through.”

Gomez’s calm demeanor on the field

Gomez’s calmness impressed Dillingham right from the start. Following ASU’s victory over Baylor, Dillingham told a story about how, during the team’s media training, Gomez was asked a series of “difficult questions.”

Gomez’s response?

“I go out there, I take my steps, and I kick the ball,” Gomez said.

His calm demeanor, Gomez says, isn’t something that has always been with him.

While it may come naturally for some players, or the players claim it does, Gomez said that his calm demeanor stems from his experiences throughout his kicking career.

Jesus Gomez carried off the field pic.twitter.com/ZUMgOSWmFF

— Brad Denny (@BDenny29) September 21, 2025

“I’ve been on the other side of missing a field goal to win or to tie. It’s understanding that you’re going to keep learning and that it’s not the end of the world,” Gomez said. “Yeah, we want to win, but it’s a game…If you don’t make it, yeah, it’s going to suck, but it’s not the end of the world.”

Gomez has not had to deal with very much missing in his first four games with the Sun Devils. ASU’s kicker has started his career in the desert going 9-for-10 on field goals and has remained perfect through 12 PAT attempts.

His lone miss with ASU was a 57-yard attempt as the clock expired in the first half against NAU, which would have tied a career long.

Thankfully for the Sun Devils, the kick they needed him to make most was almost perfect.

Sun Devils return home

The Sun Devils will be playing their next game on Friday against No. 24 TCU at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe.

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