If it weren’t for the right leg of redshirt junior punter Caden Noonkester, NC State football would most likely be under .500 with three losses in its first five games. Whenever the Wolfpack needed him most, Noonkester, also known as “Boomkester,” unleashed a punt that pinned Northern Illinois deep in its territory.

The punter put on a show in Carter-Finley Stadium with a 24-17 win over Northern Illinois Saturday afternoon.

“Incredible punts by Caden Noonketser and coverage by the punt team,” said head coach Dave Doeren. “I’m proud of how Caden responded because probably his last two games weren’t up to par and he responded.”

Noonkester’s eight punts totaled just under 400 yards — over 200 yards more than NC State’s offense — with four going over 50 yards and seven landing inside the 20-yard line. And with the game on the line, Doeren opted to trust him to seal the victory.

Instead of trying to pass to get a first down with just over two minutes left in the game to seal it, NC State ran the ball with freshman quarterback CJ Bailey on third-and-9 and didn’t gain enough for the first down. Offensive coordinator Robert Anae was conservative with his playcalling because he knew Noonkester was ready on the sideline.

With two minutes and 36 seconds left in the game, Noonkester delivered a 49-yard punt that landed at the Huskies’ 10-yard line. Northern Illinois had to drive 90 yards down the field to score the game-tying touchdown, but the Huskies ran out of time in large part because Noonkester pinned it deep in its territory.

That wasn’t the only punt of the game that set the Wolfpack up for success though. Late in the first quarter, Noonkester booted his longest punt of the contest with a 58-yarder that put the Huskies at their own 12-yard line.

Three plays after Noonkester’s boot, senior safety DK Kaufman strip-sacked Northern Illinois quarterback Ethan Hampton and recovered the fumble in the endzone for a touchdown. If not for Noonkester’s pinpoint punt, the defense isn’t in a position to call an aggressive blitz or for the ball to trickle into the endzone.

In the third quarter, graduate defensive end Davin Vann had a sack-fumble of his own that was recovered by junior defensive end Brandon Cleveland on the Huskies’ one-yard line, resulting in an NC State offensive touchdown. But what preceded that sequence? A 48-yard Noonkester kick to Northern Illinois’ 22-yard line.

“It’s huge anytime you can flip the field like that,” said redshirt junior linebacker Caden Fordham. “Coming out as a defense, having a longer field for the offense it’s always huge for us to have that advantage. Congrats to Noonkester for doing that. He punted really well today, so that was huge.”

Not only did Noonkester set up his defense, but he bailed out his offense time and time again. NC State was one for 11 on third downs and had the opportunity to go for it on fourth and short but opted to send Noonkester on the field on multiple occasions because the coaching staff knew he’d deliver.

“It’s very important that he got those punts pinned down because we had a lot of drive killers with flags and everything,” said freshman quarterback CJ Bailey. “It was very crucial to set us up in those pin positions because our defense made plays because of those punts he made. … I appreciate him as our punter.”

While this was the first time the Wolfpack faithful got to witness a Noonkester masterclass at Carter-Finley, don’t forget he’s done similar things in the past.

Last season in NC State’s conference opener at Virginia, Noonkester launched eight punts for 400 yards with two inside the 20 and a career-long 67-yard bomb. He also outgained the Wolfpack offense that day and needed all eight of those punts to hold on to a 24-21 victory.

While Noonkester had more yards and a longer punt that day, this was easily the best performance of his career. He set a career-high with seven punts inside the 20 and four were pinned inside the 12-yard line while seven of his eight boots were fair caught or downed, preventing the Huskies from making a play on special teams to spark their lackluster offense.

Noonkester’s last punt of the game also might be reminiscent of his ninth and final kick of the Clemson game last season when NC State turned around its season with five-straight wins, beginning with the Tigers.

Up 24-17, like it was today, Noonkester booted a 52-yarder to the Clemson eight-yard line and the Tigers weren’t able to drive down the field to tie the game much like the Huskies today.

This kind of showing from a punter is nothing new for the Wolfpack though. Ever since Doeren took the job at NC State he has emphasized special teams. The Wolfpack has had two punters start in the NFL in the last few years — Trenton Gill with the Chicago Bears and AJ Cole with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Cole is considered to be the NFL’s best punter, being selected to three straight Pro Bowls and named First-Team All-Pro two of the last three seasons. During the game, Cole posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Noonkester was the MVP of the game.

NC State’s game against Northern Illinois was a prime example of why Doeren values special teams the way he does. With a struggling offense and an aggressive-minded defense, Noonkester’s precision punting wasn’t just a perfect compliment to the rest of the team but a crucial piece in the victory.