Carl Gomez does his job to the best of his ability, but he really would prefer not to work on game day. “I’d be happy if I didn’t have to go out there once during the game,” Gomez, senior hotel and restaurant management major, said. “It means the offense is moving the ball. It means we’re doing really good, but you know, of course there’s gonna be a couple of times you’re in the game.” Despite the often windy conditions in Jack Trice Stadium, Gomez is still one of the most successful punters in ISU history. Gomez’s career average of 39.9 yards per kick ranks sixth on ISU’s all-time list. He owns three of the top-10 longest kicks in school history, including a 75-yarder against Wyoming his freshman year that is tied for fifth-best in school history. But for now Gomez wants to focus on the present, which includes the Iowa game this weekend. “It goes by quick, it just seems like yesterday I was a freshman and going out there and playing,” Gomez said. “It’s the last game against Iowa, and we plan to go out good and play a hard game.” As a sophomore Gomez experienced Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City for the first time. The Cyclones won 27-9. “The fans are loud; they’re yelling at you. I remember one time I was back in the end zone it just seems like they are right over your shoulder yelling at you trying to get you to mess up,” Gomez said. Gomez said that despite the Iowa fans, the worst place he has punted was Missouri. “The fans are really bad over there, they really get on you over there. They really yell at you, call you names, and find out things about you and stuff like that,” Gomez said. When not punting, Gomez said that one of his jobs on the sideline is to make sure the other Cyclones stay pumped up, and that sometimes includes rallying the fans. “I keep warm by basically just getting the crowd up. I get the other players motivated to go in; I get them ready to go,” Gomez said. Fans haven’t always treated Gomez enthusiastically. At Iowa State, kickers often take the blame for bad things that happen in the game. And when punting into the wind, sometimes the ball doesn’t even go 20 yards, something fans don’t appreciate. “[The fans] just see the big picture. They don’t really look at the little things, like the wind and certain things like that. When you go out there, you got a lot of pressure, there is very little lee-way for mistakes,” Gomez said. Gomez said it is hard to prepare for windy days, something that UNLV kicker Ray Cheetany would agree with. “I talked to [Cheetany] after the game and he said `I can’t believe you punt in this every game’ it’s something you really can’t prepare for,” Gomez said. Iowa will feature punt returner Kahlil Hill, a dangerous threat, but not the most dangerous Gomez said. “David Allen, from Kansas State,” Gomez said is the scariest return man to kick to. “He’s a pretty fast guy, but if you kick it up and hang it up there, he’s gotta fair catch it every time.” In high school, Gomez had to punt to a couple of guys he would become familiar with. In Florida, Gomez played for Killian, and their rival school was Southridge. A couple of guys named Davis played there. Also on the Southridge team was former Michigan State running back Sedirck Irvin. “They had Sedrick Irvin, Troy and Darren in the backfield and that was … quite a set up,” Gomez said. Both Irvin and Darren Davis returned punts. As for after the season, if the NFL doesn’t call Gomez’s number, he hopes to get a good job at home in Florida. And the rest of the season Gomez hopes to see improvement in his game. “Just go out and have a really good season, a lot better than I’m having right now, do really good with some success; that’s a big thing we’re looking forward to.” Gomez said.