Razorbacks' Kicker Cam Little Brightest Spot at Halfway Point

He's having a big season, but hopefully we're not putting the jinx on him now

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — There is a risk with Arkansas kicker Cam Little coming to a press conference Tuesday before another critical game. There's probably not another position that has more superstitions than kickers, who all have their own little routines. Some of them don't like publicity.

That is something few avoid, but how many times have we heard announcers spend more time talking about how big of a year they have ahead of a big kick, then the blamed thing goes sideways? Little doesn't appear to be too worried about it and has hit his last eight without a miss.

"Keeping it steady," Little said after practice Tuesday alongside running back Raheim "Rocket" Sanders. He's made 9-of-10 this year, but that one miss against BYU still sticks in the mind. Kickers always remember those misses. "That one was kind of a buzzer happening early in the season going 1 for 2. But I've kept a steady streak and kind of keep a journal every time during the week just to keep a next kick mentality and next game mentality. Just as fast as you go eight in a row you can miss one and break your streak. I'm just trying to keep that next kick mentality and focus on that next opportunity."

All too often, though, everybody forgets the kicker may have the least important part of the whole process. Even an extra point requires the precise coordination of three people touching the ball and the kicker is the last one. If any of the previous two get fouled up, it's moving so fast there's often not a lot he can do except hit it and hope. Snapper Eli Stein and holder Max Fletcher have got that rhythm going right now.

"Our operation is rolling right now and I'm thankful we've built the bond we have off the field," Little said. "That bond travels on the field. It kind of gets our timing down and builds trust in one another. Definitely thankful for those guys on the field and off the field because we have a tight relationship together."

It's the exact opposite of some other position groups with the Razorbacks right now. Moving players into different spots and not really settling on things likely is part of the problem with an offense that can't seem to hit with any consistency. The kicking game is the part that's stable which comes from experience and staying together. That may not have been the case last year.

"Definitely more than last year," Little said. "It was all new to (Fletcher) because he had come from a totally foreign country a thousand miles away. It was hard for him to develop football stuff, meeting friends off the field and guys on the football team in such a short amount of time before he eventually started playing on the field. It's been nice to kind of spend another offseason with Eli and Max together."

He's also a team captain, the first for the Hogs since Steve Little's senior year in 1977 after Lou Holtz came in replacing Frank Broyles, who recruited the All-American from Shawnee Mission, Kan. Holtz sat him down and said if he heard any more about the off-field fun the kicker and punter were having, he would notify NFL teams. Little settled down for a year. Cam is about as opposite in personality to his similarly named predecessor as any two could be, but the results are as good. Kickers aren't usually elected captains.

"Definitely surprised," Little said. "Really honored, though. When my name got called as a captain, it was a really cool experience. I was kind of at a loss for words because to know my teammates think about a position that’s maybe overlooked, like that is huge. I’m leading the best way I can, learning from guys like Rocket and KJ, Jeffcoat, Landon, Brady Latham. Guys that are captains as well. Trying to learn from them because they’ve been in leadership roles before is a really cool experience. Guys that are captains as well. Trying to kind of learn from them because they’ve been in leadership roles before, is a really cool experience.

"I definitely don't take it lightly. Arkansas football means the world to me, and my teammates mean the world to me. So, any chance I have to do any little detail right, I’m going to set the example and take advantage of it."

His teammates notice it, too. Even the defensive guys. Jeffcoat, a transfer from Missouri who just got here after the first of the year, had perhaps the biggest compliment of all Tuesday.
"He's the GOAT," Jeffcoat said.
It would be hard to find someone disputing that right now.

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