Ben Falck, the Hawaii football team’s punter and kickoff specialist, always has found safety in numbers.

As a Citrus Hill (Calif.) High student, he scored 770 on the math portion of the SAT, missing only one answer.

Falck earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, and now tutors several of his Rainbow Warrior teammates. He is pursuing a master’s in finance.

Sudoku? He only plays the “hard” games on his cell phone to kill time during flights to road games.

“Everything in the world has numbers with it,” Falck said, “especially if I’m golfing. ‘Ah, the wind is going to take it down this much. … You’ve got to club up here,’ and so on and so forth.”

The odds were Falck would inherit a passion for problem solving. His mother’s side included several in the field of law. His father’s major was math.

“There’s always one right answer,” Falck said of love of math, “and there’s a formula to follow. No way to mess up as long as you know what you’re doing.”

When the Citrus Hill kicker had to quit because of a medical issue, it was only logical Falck, a soccer goalie, would be summoned. That success led to a semester at San Bernardino Valley College, where he was named an all-league kicker and punter.

During the 2019 fall semester, he received an offer from then UH head coach Nick Rolovich and special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial. Falck crunched the numbers.

“At the time, I saw (UH had) an older roster,” Falck recalled. “I thought there might be an opportunity to get on the field quicker.”

More importantly, he said, “It’s amazing out here. I’ve loved it out here. No complaints.”

Soon after Falck commited, Rolovich and Ghobrial departed for Washington State. “That’s how it goes,” Falck said. Ghobrial recently was named the New York Giants’ special teams coordinator. “Kind of crazy where life takes you,” Falck said.

After redshirting in 2020 and playing in three games in 2021, Falck enthusiastically accepted new head coach Timmy Chang’s offer to serve as holder. Falck said kicker/punter Matthew Shipley “was my roommate. I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll hold for you. Why not?’” It was my ticket on the travel squad at first. I picked it up, and now I’m running with it.”

Last year, he added kickoffs to his duties. His first kickoff of the 2023 season was returned 97 yards for a touchdown.

“I kind of toed it a little bit,” Falck said. “The next practice, I got down to it, and found what I needed to do, and I was pretty good after that.”

The solution was adjusting the angle of the football on the tee. A slight upright tilt eased the way for Falck to strike the “sweet spot.” Of his next 52 kickoffs, 33 were touchbacks and four were fair caught. Opponents averaged 16.2 yards on kickoff returns.

Falck also has calculated that it is easier to blast away on Ewa-bound kickoffs at the Ching Complex because the wind is at his back. On kickoffs in the Diamond Head direction, he adjusts for the wind, altering the football’s arc to the right.

With Shipley transferring to Arkansas, Falck will take over the Warriors’ punting. Kansei Matsuzawa and Kai Kluth are competing for the point-scoring kicker’s job.

In practices last season, Falck tested returners with his booming and temperamental punts. “Maybe because I don’t turn them over and I get some hang time and they wobble down,” Falck said. “I have to work on hitting my location and getting the distance.”