True freshman Noah Thayer had never played a collegiate game when his number was called in front of a program-record 11,000 fans and a national ESPN audience.
The kicker stepped in for injured veteran Josue Lopez in a seesaw game against Idaho that had the crowd biting its fingernails until the final whistle.
The audience saw Thayer make just one of his three field-goal attempts, but that was only a piece of the larger picture.
What spectators often miss are the meticulous variables behind every kick and what it takes to play one of football’s most misunderstood positions.
“Everyone thinks the kicking position is super easy until they try it,” Thayer said, “and then it’s like ‘Oh wait, maybe there’s a little more to this than I thought.’”
A quarterback can throw an interception and get another possession to make up for it. A receiver can drop a pass and get another target. A running back can fumble and get another carry.
But a kicker can miss a 30-yard field goal and have no way to put those points back on the board.
“It is a unique situation considering we might only have one impact play a game,” junior kicker Lopez said, “so we really do have to make it count.”
When Lopez returned from his back injury in Week 2, the Mustangs did not even attempt another field goal for two weeks. When his moment finally came on the team’s lone field-goal attempt of the night, he drilled a season-long 43-yarder that swung momentum in Cal Poly’s favor and set up a last-minute victory over Eastern Washington.
It’s a position that requires patience and mental toughness unlike any other.
“Before you go out there, you already made the kick,” Lopez said. “If it’s from 20, if it’s from 50, your mindset’s the exact same because you can’t afford to think that you’re not gonna make it. People might think it’s automatic because it’s closer, but it’s equally as hard.”
Behind every kick, the snap, hold and protection must be masterfully executed. A misstep at any part can throw off even the most reliable kicker. That’s assuming, of course, that the weather conditions are perfect.
What is perceived as a fail-safe option for automatic points requires everything to go according to plan and a perfect rep from the kicker.
“People just think that kicking a ball can’t be that difficult, which is understandable, but there’s a lot more to it than what they see,” Thayer said. “Technique is everything.”
A kicker’s technique is built over years of training and hours in the film room, just like any other player.
They endure the same fall camp, put in the same hours and complete the exact same workouts as their teammates. The position is every bit as physically demanding.
“A lot of people don’t see that and think we might not be as athletic or strong, but realistically we are,” Lopez said.
For Lopez and Thayer, their limited opportunities have come when the Mustangs have no points to spare. Every game in the first half of Cal Poly’s conference schedule has been decided by one score or less.
When a late touchdown drive comes up short, the pressure then falls on the kicker to convert.
“I feel like we are probably one of the groups that has the most mental toughness,” Lopez said. “Just because if you do have a bad play in the beginning of a game, you got to be able to scratch it and be able to go make the next one, because that could be the game winner.”