Why college football’s must-see attraction is a punter from San Diego State

You’re a linebacker ready to rush the opposing kicker to try to block his field goal. You break through, but not fast enough; the kick is good and you end up barging into the holder instead. Suddenly, the kicker is in your face, pointing his finger at you, shouting at you. He’s not going to let you get away with taking a shot at his holder. Not this kicker.

Maybe you’re a wide receiver looking to return a punt. You’re standing near your own 35-yard line because the ball is being snapped inside the opposite 10-yard line. Surely, the punt won’t go more than 70 yards, you think. But the ball explodes off the kicker’s leg and you find yourself taking steps back, and back, and further back. The ball hits the ground and ends up landing inside your own 20-yard line. The field has been flipped.

Or perhaps you’re a teammate prepping for a workout. You walk into the weight room, ready to do some heavy squats, only to see the kicker set up on a nearby rack, squatting the same weight you’re about to contend with — and doing it with ease. You think to yourself: This is not a not a normal kicker.

Matt Araiza is not your typical kicker. His left leg is a Swiss Army knife that booms punts, nails field goals and crushes kickoffs. His brain processes all of it as part-golf swing, part-soccer shot and part-math equation. His passion is one that coaches and teammates, past and present, rave about. It’s what often makes him one of the most competitive players on the field, ready to dish out tackles as easily as trash talk, and what prompts him to do everything in his power to make sure people respect him and his fellow specialists.

This season, Araiza has turned into a kicking phenomenon and an offensive weapon for the defensively inclined 8-1 San Diego State Aztecs. He has multiple 50-yard field goals and has an 83% touchback rate (top-10 in the country with at least 40 kickoffs). He has two punts of over 80 yards, six punts over 70 yards, an…