Ramsey's Razorback Rebound Draws High Praise

Teammates coaches alike laud Hog kicker's mental toughness

Arkansas Razorbacks kicker Kyle Ramsey kicks against the UAB Blazers at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. / Michael Morrison-Hogs on SI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — What would you give to be a kicker? Come in for a few plays again, hit a few chip shots, and a few long field goals here and there.

For the most part, keep the uniform clean. After all, they have one job and after the ball goes through the uprights, they sing kumbaya with everyone.

It's not that simple.

"'I would not trade positions with you guys for any amount of money,'" offensive lineman Josh Braun told the kickers earlier in the week. "There's nothing you could give me to tell me to be a kicker.

"That's so much pressure. That's so much anxiety I would not want to deal with."

For Arkansas kicker Kyle Ramsey, it was anything but kumbaya against Oklahoma State, he went 1-for-3, missed two field goals inside of 50 yards and likely affected the playcalling on a subsequent drive. He cost the Hogs three surefire points in regulation in a game that the Hogs ultimately lost in overtime.

However, this week, Ramsey got full redemption. Yes, he missed another field goal, but made three others and held his nerve at two different critical junctures to lead Arkansas to a 37-27 win.

Nailing a 51-yarder at the end of the first half to ensure that the Razorbaorbacks went into intermission tied at 20 was Ramsey's highlight.

He won't be coming for Cam Little's title of most accurate kicker, but his performance earned him special recognition postgame.

"Ramsey is the one I got to stand up in front of the team because he got ridiculed last week," Pittman said. "He hit the ball all week so I thought he’d have a pretty good game and he certainly did."

Ramsey was put in the same situation this week as he was last week. He needed to make a kick of around 40 yards early in the fourth quarter to ensure his team would have a two-possession lead. History did not repeat itself. Teammates lauded Ramsey's ability to move on from the week before.

"The dude knows how to battle adversity," defensive end Landon Jackson said. "He had a game he wasn’t happy with last week with his performance. He went to work all week and turned it around. We need a lot of guys on the team who are willing to take criticism, get coached and go out there and change the mistakes."

While Pittman stopped short of closing the kicking battle for good, Ramsey looks to have kept his starting job after a wild two weeks.

Arkansas now begins its SEC slate on the road against Auburn Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN.

HOGS FEED:

• WATCH: Complete Razorbacks' postgame on win over UAB

• Razorbacks should look ahead, not in the rear-view mirror

• Razorbacks flirt with fire; escape with win over UAB

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