From Down Under to the desert, Boise State’s Aussie finds Fiesta Bowl hype ‘surreal’

James Ferguson-Reynolds’ memory of his first punt on American soil is a little hazy. It was the opening game of the 2022 season, and the 18-year-old Australian punter, then just a freshman, was called into action after just three Boise State plays.

The game was against Oregon State at Reser Stadium in front of a crowd of 27,000 — at that point, the largest crowd he’d ever seen. The tough start for the Broncos meant Ferguson-Reynolds was backed up close to his own end zone.

“I blacked out in the moment,” Ferguson-Reynolds told the Idaho Statesman. “I was hearing a lot of talk from the crowd behind me 5 yards away.”

Ferguson-Reynolds sent the ball flying 39 yards for a fair catch — his first of five punts in that game, which the Broncos lost 34-17.

Ferguson-Reynolds wasn’t accustomed to playing in front of crowds and crazy fans like he experienced that day. And even now, the native of Geelong — a port city about a 45-mile drive south of Melbourne — gets a little blown away by the hype that can surround college football.

He played Australian rules football for a local club team, but as he put it, college athletics are “pretty much non-existent” Down Under. He ended up in Boise as part of Prokick Australia, a program designed to train Australian rules football players to punt “American style.”

Now he’s about to play under the brightest lights he’s ever seen.

“It’s a weird story,” he said. “Not having it back home and coming over here and experiencing what it’s like to play in front of 60, 70,000 people, and now playing the playoff game and the whole world is going to be watching, it’s kind of surreal.”

On Tuesday night, barring a perfect Bronco performance, Ferguson-Reynolds will be punting in front of over 63,000 people in State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. No. 3 seed Boise State (12-1) will take on No. 6 Penn State (12-2) aiming for a fourth Fiesta Bowl win in program history — and more importantly, a spot in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff.

When called upon, Ferguson-Reynolds might rely on that American-style punting — remaining in the pocket rather than rolling out to one side and kicking while running. Or he might revert to his roots, which happens from time to time.

Either way, he’ll probably be impressed by the atmosphere around him.

On Sunday morning, Ferguson-Reynolds sat at one of five long tables in a Marriott hotel conference room in Arizona as part of the traditional Fiesta Bowl media day. Journalists, photographers and dozens of Fiesta Bowl committee members in yellow jackets swarmed the room, firing off questions as serious as how certain matchups will play out in the game to less important things — like how crazy all of this seems to an Australian.

Just down the far end of the long table stood the Fiesta Bowl trophy — stunning with its 2,400 diamonds, and sterling and gold plating. The trophy is worth about $2.5 million, according to Marca.

“It’s pretty crazy,” was the best way Ferguson-Reynolds could put it.

Special teams coordinator Stacy Collins, who recruited the punter, told the Statesman that you can try to warn foreign recruits about the college football environment, but it “takes a minute” and can take a long time for them to adjust.

“About four years ago, I wouldn’t have imagined (this) at all,” Ferguson-Reynolds said.