One of the most surprising things I've witnessed this year is Elon University football junior punter Kenton Beal. It began against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the 62-0 blowout everybody remembers and will remember from this football season.

In that game, he had ten punts for an average of 44 yards, with a long of 54 yards. He was also able to snag two solo tackles against the Tar Heels.

His improvement over his career is clearly seen in the statistics:

[box]Kenton Beal's Punting Stats

2010: 13 punts, 491 yards, 37.8 average, 52 long, one 50-plus punt (ten games)

2011: 49 punts, 1882 yards, 38.4 average, 55 long, four 50+ punts (11 games)

2012: 25 punts, 1016 yards, 40.6 average, 54 long, three 50+ punts (through 5 games)

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I got a chance Monday to talk with Beal about his improvement, the North Carolina game and playing Appalachian State this weekend.

Zachary: What's been the key to your improvement so far this season?

Kenton: Hard work and great effort, really. I came in in the summer and knew I had a really good opportunity to excel, and I see myself do in practice multiple times and I want to translate it to the game. And I’ve been doing that.

Zachary: Do you feel like you're more comfortable back there now that you've had a year under your belt of full-time punting?

Kenton: It’s game experience, it’s like nothing else. Once you get game experience, you’re good. It’s more realistic, obviously. I’ve gotten more comfortable and I can take people coming at me and all those types of things. I don’t even know they’re coming anymore. I just stand back there and punt it and do the same things over and over again. I don’t hear anything, don’t see anything, just stay focused.

Zachary: Was the Carolina game weird for you, punting ten times?

Kenton: It was really weird. I had a great time at Carolina. I stayed warm the whole time, I was out there running around on the field. And also, the fact that it was like 95 degrees helped too. I didn’t have to kick too many times into the net to stay warm. As much as I didn’t want to be on the field because the team was doing poorly, it was kind of nice to get out there and show myself a little bit. It was the first game of the season. I was able to get comfortable quick, work on some things. Game time experience is a lot different, so once you get that game feel, you can translate it every week and you know what you need to change.

Zachary: What does it mean to you that Elon hasn't beaten Appalachian State since 1964?

Kenton: It’s time to win. And I really think it’s going to happen soon. I think, especially after this week, we’re going to be fired up on the field. It’s a great atmosphere, 35,000 people, and it’s always loud. I know our team likes to play on this stage, with the spotlight on us. And I think this week, it’s going to be an interesting game.

Zachary: It's also their homecoming too, like it was two years ago. 

Kenton: Another game we should have won. It’s going to be a similar game for sure.

Not a bad guy to chat with. He had to watch former quarterback Scott Riddle punt in front of him during his freshman year, when Beal still got off 13 punts. Just like senior kicker Adam Shreiner, who has showed a lot of improvement since two years ago, Beal has the leg to kick Elon to a significant advantage during games.