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Grand Forks Herald
UND kicker Kenten Laughman blocks out criticism as confidence builds
- Story byGrand Forks Herald
- UND kicker Kenten Laughman blocks out criticism as confidence builds
Oct. 30—GRAND FORKS — If you're at a UND football game early enough to view warm-ups, you might see one item stick out from an otherwise routine setting.
In warm-ups this season, Fighting Hawks kicker Kenten Laughman often kicks a soccer ball around the field, listening to music as the rest of the team prepares in other pockets on half of the field.
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No one will argue with the unique routine coming off of last weekend, where Laughman had the best game of his career and UND's best single-game kicking performance in years.
Laughman, a junior from Kansas, drilled field goals of 46 yards, 45 yards and 38 yards. His 46-yard make in the first quarter was a career-best and his 45-yard connection came in the closing minute, helping the Hawks erase a 20-3 halftime deficit and force overtime. He converted his third kick of the game and sixth straight overall in overtime, connecting from 38 to give UND its first lead of the game.
"I haven't always been at a point in my career where I can be that reliable guy," Laughman said. "It feels good to want the game to come down to a kick like that."
Laughman credits maturity for his recent rise. He's made 7 of 8 field goals on the year after starting the year with punter Luke Silvernale securing the starting kicking job out of fall camp.
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"Coming in freshman year, you're learning how to live away from home and getting used to college football," said Laughman, who's 33-for-34 on extra points this season. "Last year wasn't great for me, and I was learning how to deal with failure. Going into this year, you've been through some success and some failure. You've stayed in the hotels, gone through the pregame rituals. It's getting older and mastering your process."
Laughman received recruiting interest out of high school from in-state power conference programs Kansas and Kansas State, as well as Division I schools outside the area such as Temple, Stephen F. Austin and Southern Illinois. He chose to come to UND with the help of friend C.J. Elrichs, a Kansas prep product who handled the kicking duties at times from 2023-25.
"I loved the team atmosphere," Laughman said of what drew him to UND. "I could tell it was a close-knit team. That was important to me moving away from home. That was going to be huge for my growth and development."
Laughman struggled at times last season and remained up-and-down through the 2026 fall camp. Even earlier this season, Laughman missed a kick at Indiana State and had two kickoffs fly out of bounds.
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"(UND head coach Eric) Schmidt holds me to a high standard to be the best I can be, and I think that's important for my development," Laughman said. "It's understanding who I am. I got to know myself. There are nights you're trying to figure out what's going wrong. You spend time with your self and the coaches in the office, going through video in the war room. It all goes to the basic of — who am I? I know I'm able to compete at a high level and end the game with a kick. The biggest thing is being confident with yourself and not letting what people might say online affect you."
Some of Laughman's low moments may have come out in his celebration last Saturday as he showcased emotion after nailing his game-tying kick in the final minute.
"I was fired up," Laughman said. "I'm proud of myself. I put in a lot work. It hasn't always been pretty during my career here and everyone knows that. Fans have given me criticism, which is deserved ... I need to be better. To be at the point in my career to provide that for them, there's excitement there."
Part of Laughman's improvement is credited to his soccer ball warm-up.
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"Last year when I was struggling, I was over-complicating things," Laughman said. "I've been playing soccer my whole life. So I take the football out of it and remind myself I can kick a ball straight. I'm not learning how to do this; I've been kicking a ball since I was 3. It's not hard. I don't need to over-complicate this. The body has the muscle memory.
I like playing soccer, so kicking straight is what it comes down to. It's dumbing it down ... hey, you know what to do — swing and have fun. If it's working mentally ... whatever works, doesn't matter. I listen to a lot of reggae and do things that don't feel pressure-filled."
Connecting from 45 yards and beyond has been rare for UND in recent years. UND's longest made field goal in 2025 was 40 yards. Elriches had a 47-yard make in 2024 but UND's longest in 2023 was 42 from Elrichs and the longest in 2022 was 42 from Brady Stevens.
Schmidt has noticed Laughman lock into the details.
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"He's measuring steps and making sure that if we can take out as many variables, it's as simple as lining up in the right spot every time," Schmidt said. "The exact distance away from the ball. My plant foot is at the target at the right spot every single time. I'm making good foot-to-ball contact. There's a sweet spot of the foot that needs to hit the sweet spot of the ball.
"And you won't make 100 percent. You need a failure mechanism when you miss to have confidence to go back out there and feel like you can still be successful."
