After Awful Season, Nugent Clears His Head to Succeed
Dec 26, 2002
By RUSTY MILLER
AP Sports Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Learning not to think so hard has made Ohio Statekicker Mike Nugent an All-American.
A year after sharing the kicking job – and a large part of the blame forfour of the Buckeyes’ five losses – Nugent is one of the stars as No. 2 OhioState heads into the national championship game against top-ranked Miami in theFiesta Bowl on Jan. 3.
Nugent owes his success to not using his head.
“I was thinking way too much,” the sophomore said. “I was thinking, ‘Ohmy gosh, I’m out here? I can’t believe it. I’m so shocked!”‘
Nugent had come in as an all-state placekicker out of Centerville. DanStultz had graduated after the 2000 season, leaving the job wide open to eitherNugent or fellow freshman Josh Huston.
Nugent was brimming with confidence as he approached his first collegiategame. But it was also clear that he’d spent a lot of his time worrying aboutthe immensity of the job.
Asked by a reporter what he had to consider when kicking off in the newlyreconfigured Ohio Stadium, Nugent went off on a 10-minute explanation aboutwhere the winds swirled the most and when, and where he had to aim on fieldgoals just to avoid a gust blowing the ball off line.
His mental approach wore him down. He missed his first field goal attempt, a35-yarder in the season opener against Akron. The next week at UCLA, he shankeda 28-yarder and Huston missed from 32 yards – errors that loomed large in a13-6 loss.
“I was excited to just be on the team,” Nugent said. “I thought aboutthat way too much more than I should have, instead of just going out and doingmy job.”
He later missed a 34-yarder in a 29-27 loss to Penn State. At the same time,Huston was also struggling, and the close losses started to mount. It got sobad that when the field goal unit came onto the field at Ohio Stadium, theywere met with boos.
“It was real tough, because the only people who’ve got your back is yourfamily and your teammates,” Nugent said. “Pretty much everyone else isrooting against you, even your own fans. They kind of assumed that we would goout there and do a bad job.”
Over time, Nugent realized what he was doing wrong: Like a golferoveranalyzing a 3-foot putt, he never allowed himself the freedom to simplymake contact with the ball. Instead, he was afraid of what would happen if hemissed.
Despite a horrendous start, he ended up with a positive finish. He convertedhis only attempt in a win at Michigan and was 4-for-4 on extra-point kicks inthe Buckeyes’ last-second loss to South Carolina in the Outback Bowl.
This season he resolved to let his body take over and to push all thoughtsout of his head. The result was nothing short of stunning.
“As spring practice ended, Mike had every confidence that he was going toemerge as our kicker, and that he was not going to allow anything around him toaffect him, whether it was the opponent’s rush or 100,000 people or a snap orwhatever,” coach Jim Tressel said.
After beating out the injured Huston for the job, Nugent converted a 45-yardfield goal in the opener against Texas Tech, and the successes kept coming. Heconverted his first 23 attempts – several of which went a long way towardkeeping Ohio State’s record spotless.
He set seven Ohio State kicking records this season, including most pointsby a kicker (113), most field goals in a season (24), most consecutive fieldgoals made (24), most consecutive games with at least one field goal (12) andmost field goals of 40 yards or longer in a season (9).
Nugent ended up being Ohio State’s first kicker to be chosen first-teamAll-America.
“Last year, we were a little inconsistent,” quarterback Craig Krenzel saidof the Buckeyes’ kicking game. “This year we were darned near perfect.”
It’s not just a coincidence that after going 7-5 in 2001 while losing fourgames by a touchdown or less that the Buckeyes went 13-0 and won all six gamesdecided by the same margin.
“We realized that the offense and defense, if they do their jobs and wedon’t do much on special teams, we’re probably going to lose the game,” Nugentsaid. “This year I knew I was going to be out there, and every time I came outprepared to do my job.”
