Nicholson finished the season 26-for-27 on field goals, with his only miss coming late in Miami’s MAC Championship Game victory over Toledo. With a 23-for-23 regular season, Nicholson set a new FBS record for the most field goals in a perfect regular season, topping 2012 Lou Groza Award winner Cairo Santos’ mark of 21. Add two more to start the MAC Championship Game and he made 25 consecutive field goals, matching the all-time FBS record for the longest streak in one season. Overall, his 26 field goals tied for the second-most in FBS while his 96.3% accuracy was the highest by any kicker with even 15 attempts on the year. He also set the bar for consistency by making field goals in every game of the season. Of the eight FBS kickers who made at least 23 field goals, he’s the only one who can make that claim. He kicked multiple field goals in nine games, including a trio of 3-for-3 performances. In two of those, he outscored the RedHawks’ opponent on his own, totaling 11 points in both a 23-3 win over Kent State and a 23-10 victory over Buffalo.

Arthur Carmody kicked the football extremely accurately during the 2006 season. On three separate occasions this year, Carmody was a perfect 3-for-3 in field goals, helping his team win all three games. He made 21 of 25 field goals and was successful on all of his 60 PAT attempts. The best highlight of the seasons may have been Louisville’s first appearance in a BCS bowl. Carmody helped lead Louisville to its first FedEx Orange Bowl victory as the Cardinals defeated Wake Forest 24-13.

Ruggles, a senior from Odessa, Florida, is the nation’s top scoring kicker with 113 points. His bid for a perfect season came to an end this weekend, snapping what had been the nation’s longest consecutive field goal streak at 18 straight, going back to his previous season. Despite this late miss, his totals of 16‐for‐17 on field goals and 65‐for‐65 on PATs give him a combined accuracy rate of 98.78% on all kicks this season, the best by an FBS kicker with double‐digit field goal tries.