CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Over the summer, Ben Sauls referred to his "golf bag" of kicks, and how he developed his repertoire based off of film study and molding his style of kicking with those he looked up to.
Baltimore place-kicker Justin Tucker and Kansas City place-kicker Harrison Butker are two whose kicks appear on Sauls' playlist, and it was through that work and study which enabled Sauls to edge Sam Scarton for the Pitt place-kicking job to begin the season.
He was called upon once in the Backyard Brawl, and he drilled that lone attempt from 42 yards to go along with his perfect 5-for-5 on PATs. A fine start to the season for the specialist which had been the team's primary kickoff specialist the season prior.
But, in what is likely the largest "what-if" game this season for Pitt, Sauls was not at his best. His response to that would set the table for a reset, a refocus, and a try at correcting what had been wrong.
Sauls went wide-left on two of his four field goal attempts against Tennessee, and ultimately, making even one of those field goals could have been the difference in turning an overtime loss into a potential win in regulation.
"Little kick in the butt right there, actually," Sauls said this week. "I looked back on the film and it came down to finishing the ball, finishing my kick. The Tennessee game, both of those missed left, so on the film technical-wise you can tell my leg just stayed open. Left it open, didn't finish, kind of scared to miss.
"(Since that) my attitude has been different. I'm trying to kick it through the uprights, just finish through the ball. Not really worried about where it goes, because if I just aim down my line and hit the ball clean, it's going to finish down my line."
Since his two misses against the Volunteers, Sauls has mostly been down the line in field goals. He has made 7 of 8 kicks, with the lone miss coming in the Western Michigan game the week after the Tennessee game. That miss was relatively negligible compared to the ones he missed against Tennessee, as the Panthers went on to beat the Broncos, 34-13.
During that seven-game stretch after Tennessee, he made his season-long field goal of 48 yards (at WMU), then he drilled one kick of 47 yards each against Virginia Tech and at North Carolina.
For the season, Sauls has made 10 of 13 kicks, without having missed one since Week 3. He is perfect on PATs, 33 of 33.
"It's really not as much as, in regards to the 'golf bag,' not as many trick kicks," Sauls said. "That's not the point. The point is really, there's the technical method, and everyone has a little twist on it. You can watch guys like I mentioned in the summertime like J-Tuck, Butker, they all have their own little methods and their own swag to them. I think when you collect that and put it together for yourself to figure out what you do and what's comfortable for you, it really works."
He needed that "kick in the butt" in order to bring forward the self-awareness that his style still needed refining. One-half of his kicks against Tennessee missed in the same exact manner, so it wasn't that he was missing while being inconsistent; he missed those kicks in consistency with each other.
However, Sauls has not been in many pressure situations this season aside from the first two weeks of the season. He has attempted just one field goal in each of Pitt's last four games, while making all four.
"Yeah, whether we ask you to kick one or kick two or three, we expect you to make them all," Pat Narduzzi said after last week's game against Syracuse. "He's been 100% here in the last few weeks. He's done a great job. That's what we saw all camp.
"He was a guy that came in as a scholarship player and got beat out by Sam Scarton, a walk-on, and then he came back and told me the other day, 'I needed last year to be who I am this year.' Again, sometimes you've got to get knocked down a little bit, and nobody is entitled to be a starter just because you're a scholarship player. Sam did great job for us last year, and he's done a great job for us this year."
There was much discussion in the preseason about the Pitt kicking competition, because many from the outside believed Scarton did a fine job. After all, he was an All-ACC third-team selection after making 17 of 21 field goals, 69 of 72 PATs, and scoring 120 points for a Pitt kicking scoring record.
But Sauls has a stronger leg -- special teams coach Andre Powell said Sauls can hit from 55 yards -- than Scarton, and his woes last season ultimately came down to inconsistencies and inaccuracies.
Those flashed in the Tennessee game, but have been put to bed since.
"I think Ben has been more mental than anything," Powell said. "From the time he got here until now, he's really grown up, he's really matured. Some of the peripheral things don't bother him, things that used to bother him. He just focuses on doing his job. Players mature. They learn how to prepare themselves, they learn how to get the job done, and he's certainly done that."
For as demanding as place-kicking can be, in terms of having a strong kicking leg, a strong planting leg, a strong core to help build momentum, that all comes with time. But the space between the ears also needs to be worked out. Place-kickers need to have short attention spans and a brand of amnesia in order to focus down each kick.
It's something which Sauls has added extra emphasis on. The foundation for that was laid on by one of the greatest Panthers place-kickers in recent memory.
"I'm very self-motivated," Sauls said. "At the kicking position -- really, pick any position, it's you against you. It doesn't matter what anybody else is doing, especially on game day, you're going out to kick the ball. Doesn't matter if you're up by 50 or down by 50, you're still kicking the ball. It's the same thing over and over again. Alex Kessman really drove into me 'one-for-one' over and over again, and if you can do that, good things can happen.
"Personally I think I'm extremely mentally tough. I don't think I'm a different kicker than I was last year, but if you look at the tape, I got my first start against New Hampshire, and I missed my first two extra points and I was benched the rest of the year. I think you've got to go through stuff like that. When you get through that, it sharpens you. Just like Tennessee, another sharpening tool for me. You've got to lock it in, stay focused the whole time, and unfortunately that game went the way it was, but you can only learn from that. At the end of the day in kicking, you learn more from your misses than your makes."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Who: Pitt (5-4, 2-3 ACC) at Virginia (3-6, 1-5 ACC)
• When: Noon Saturday
• Spread: Pitt by 3.5.
• Weather: 69°, Partly cloudy, 10% chance of rain, 7 mph. wind
• TV: ACC Network
• Radio: 93.7 The Fan, 92.1 WPTS-FM (Pitt student broadcast)
• Streaming: ESPN App
• Satellite: SiriusXM channel 206, SXM App channel 969
• Live stats
• Media notes: Pitt / Virginia
TEN TO WATCH
• #2 Israel Abanikanda -- The All-American candidate was a surprise scratch last week against Syracuse. When asked on Thursday of his availability, Narduzzi hinted that his star running back could be on track to face Virginia.
"I think he is; I think so. We'll find out," Narduzzi said.
But is that a real hint, or is that coach speak? We'll find out soon.
• #5 Deslin Alexandre -- He was Pitt's best player in its win over Syracuse, tallying seven tackles, 2.5 sacks, 3.0 tackles for loss, and he forced the defense's safety toward the end of the game. Let's see how he follows it up.
• #5 Jared Wayne -- Wayne has sneakily had a solid season in a different role than we anticipated at the beginning of the season:
Most explosive WRs in the country💥 pic.twitter.com/2Y75RZGKv9
— PFF College (@PFF_College) November 10, 2022
Surprising stat in some ways for the Panthers' now-go-to deep man. Wayne has posted back-to-back 100-yard games and has three overall in his career. Virginia's pass defense is typically tough to break through, though. It is third in the ACC with 204.0 yards per game allowed.
• #6 Rodney Hammond Jr. -- If Abanikanda is out, look for Hammond to re-emerge as the Panthers' lead back. Last week, he had his best game since returning from injury in rushing 28 times for 124 yards and a touchdown.
• #7 SirVocea Dennis -- I'm expecting a strong finish to the season for Dennis, who is likely on his way to All-ACC honors. His 9.5 tackles for loss are tied for seventh in the ACC, and his 6.0 sacks are second among all ACC linebackers and are fourth overall in the conference.
• #10 Tylar Wiltz -- The Missouri State transfer has emerged in recent weeks, earning starts at outside linebacker against North Carolina and Syracuse. He is fifth on the team in tackles with 31.
• #24 C'Bo Flemister -- Flemister nearly outgained his season total in one drive against Syracuse, and he scored his first touchdown as a Panther. If Abanikanda is out, Hammond should start, and the "hot-hand" approach should result in Flemister being RB2.
• #60 Owen Drexel -- Pitt's starting center dressed last week for the first time since sustaining a leg injury against Tennessee in Week 2.
Perhaps a bigger deal today than usual. #Pitt center Owen Drexel is dressed for the first time since being injured in Week 2 against Tennessee. pic.twitter.com/Ge7JfEwSdy
— Corey Crisan (@cdcrisan) November 5, 2022
"I think he's getting really close. He's getting close," Narduzzi said. "Last week was his first week back practicing a little bit, so I think he's closer this week than he obviously was last week."
So, maybe not a start for him this week -- expect Jake Kradel again -- but I'd expect Drexel to at least dress again, with a chance to play next weekend against Duke.
• #86 Gavin Bartholomew -- *ahem* ... Paging (plays called to) Gavin Bartholomew!?
• The Pitt punter -- Who knew we would be here in Week 11? Narduzzi said on Thursday that THREE punters will be traveling to Virginia: Cam Guess, Sam Vander Haar, and Caleb Junko. Narduzzi said that Junko would get the start against the Cavaliers. He has punted three times for an average of 44 yards. Vander Haar averages 39.6 yards per boot.
"Well, I've coached for a long time, and I've never had a situation quite like this one," Powell said this week. "This has been quite the unique experience, and we're still hashing our way through it, and it's not going as smoothly as we anticipated. Let's just leave it at that."
