Chansky's Notebook: A Happy Ending

Noah Ruggles’ story is better than just being a football hero.

The kicker who won the Rose Bowl for Ohio State on a short field goal used to play for the Tar Heels. The journey of Noah Ruggles is one for the books, the story books. He always wanted to go to Ohio State since much of his family hails from Steubenville but was never offered a scholarship by the Buckeyes.

The late convert from soccer to football his junior year at Steinbrenner High School in Odessa, Florida, Ruggles wound up rated the No. 9 prep kicker in the country, signed with North Carolina and red-shirted as a freshman in Larry Fedora’s last season at UNC.

In Mack Brown’s first year back, Ruggles earned the kicking job and went on to be the team’s leading scorer with 109 points, fifth best in the ACC. But despite making all 45 of his PATs, his field goal stats were modest, missing 8 of his 27 attempts, including a wide shot that would have won the multi-overtime defeat at Virginia Tech.

When beaten out in 2020 by Furman transfer Grayson Atkins, Ruggles said he became more introspective to try to figure out his future. A friend video-taped him kicking two 60-yard field goals and Ruggles tweeted it out, getting hundreds of reactions. Apparently, the coaches at Ohio State saw it.

Offered a scholarship, he would be competing against a returning kicker who had been injured the year before and a red-shirt freshman. Tabbed to start the opening game at Minnesota, Ruggles was flawless on field goals, extra points and kick-offs. The job was then his to lose.

Ruggles missed on only one field goal all season, was perfect on PATs and became the only Buckeye to earn first-team All-American honors from ESPN. He was also nominated for the Lou Groza Award as the best college kicker in the country.

He might have found his kicking zone, but Ruggles remained the same happy kid, enjoying the much-bigger Columbus social scene and dreaming of the surfing he used to do in Florida and on the North Carolina coast.

After he made the Rose Bowl winner, he waved good-bye to the spot from where he lifted his last college kick. With one season left, he was also the No. 5 kicker on the NFL draft board. He has rediscovered his game. Why risk losing it again?

Photo via ElevenWarriors.com.

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