Few things can derail a season like kickers in college football. Over the years, thousands of remotes have been broken after watching errant balls inexplicably miss from close range, showing that fans have little patience for kickers. Unfortunately for Texas Tech football fans, there are serious questions about the program’s kicker game in the midst of fall camp.
On Monday, Texas Tech special teams coordinator and running backs coach Kenny Perry met with the media and didn’t have the most positive news about the battle of the placekickers taking place in Lubbock.
“Can any of you play football?” he asked the assembled media sarcastically when asked about the football competition.
“We’ve had good days and bad days,” he continued. “It’s definitely a competition. One day Gino (Garcia) is good and one day Reese (Burkhardt) is good. You know, I wish somebody would take it on, to be honest with you.”
It’s a little surprising that the door was even opened for an offseason kicker competition. That’s because Garcia was outstanding after the second week of the season last year.
Despite missing four of his first seven FG attempts last year, he rebounded and made 13 of his final 15 FGs over the course of the season, a success rate of 86.6% after Week 2. He was also perfect on 40 extra point attempts.
Burkhardt, meanwhile, was just Tech’s primary kickoff specialist. This year, 40 of his 64 kickoffs resulted in touchbacks, but he did not attempt a FG.
However, the gap between the two kickers this offseason wasn’t big enough for Perry to pick either of them as the best player, and that seems to be a bit of a concern for him.
“We have a good football team,” he said. “We just have to get to the point where we can’t start as well as we did last year. But you know what, we’re going to get there. We’re working on it.”
“You know, it’s not that these guys aren’t trying. It’s just that we’ve got to start making kicks, you know. That’s what it comes down to. As a college football player, you’ve got to make kicks, you know. If you don’t, someone else will.
Last season, Garcia’s early struggles could have cost Tech two wins. He was just 2-5 in a 35-33 double-overtime loss to Wyoming, and he was 1-2 in a 38-30 loss to Oregon, which was only one point ahead in the final minutes.
This year, Tech wants to avoid a similar scenario. However, Perry doesn’t know who he’ll go with at this point. In addition, he stated that he’s a little surprised that he’ll have to host a placekicking competition this fall, considering how Garcia ended up in 2023.
“A little bit,” Perry said when asked if he was surprised by the turn of his kicker situation. “I think Reese got serious in the spring. You know, when he got here, he thought he was going to be the kickoff man, and then last spring … Reese had a better spring and it’s kind of continued from there. But I have no doubt one of them will step up.”
Planning the kicking game before August 31 is a must. While two of the first three games should be a runaway victory, as they are home games against FCS opponent Abilene Christian and Group of 5 member North Texas, being able to rely on the kicking game early is crucial, especially in week two when the Red Raiders travel to Washington State.
The kicking game can be the downfall of a good football team. Fortunately, the placekickers have been solid for most of Tech’s recent seasons thanks to players like Garcia, Jonathan Garibay, Trey Wolff and Clayton Hatfield.
Now, however, it seems as though this key position group is struggling to show consistency in fall camp. Hopefully Perry gets his wish and either Garcia or Burkhardt takes advantage of this opportunity, because no one wants to go through a season where the kicking game is a liability. Plus, Texas Tech fans only have so many remotes to smash.
