Could Texas Longhorns Make A Kicking Change vs. Ohio State? Steve Sarkisian Responds

The Texas Longhorns have had a major issue in the kicking department.

Jan 1, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Texas Longhorns place kicker Bert Auburn (45) and punter Michael Kern (39) react after a missed field goal against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Texas Longhorns have had one glaring weakness over the last two months of their season - the kicking game.

Dating back to their Nov. 23 matchup vs. the Kentucky Wildcats, Texas kicker Bert Auburn has missed six of his last nine field goal attempts, dropping his percentage to 64 percent (16 of 25) for the season. In fact, Auburn has missed at least one field goal in every game with the exception of their first-round CFP matchup vs. Clemson since their matchup vs. the Wildcats.

To make things worse, Auburn missed two of those kicks in the SEC Championship Game, resulting in an overtime loss to Georgia. Likewise, two more misses came vs. Arizona State in the Peach Bowl, nearly causing the Longhorns to fall victim to a major upset.

For those counting at home, that is six misses from Auburn in the Longhorns' last five games.

And in light of those misses in key moments, it appears that Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is not ruling out the idea of making a change at the position.

"Football is an ultimate team sport, but there are specific positions that are kind of individualized," Sarkisian said. "There's a psychological approach that we have tried to use and there's obviously the physical approach. We'll monitor that through pregame and make a decision and go."

Jan 1, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Texas Longhorns place kicker Bert Auburn (45) and punter Michael Kern (39) react after a missed field goal against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

So who could replace Auburn if indeed Sarkisian and special teams coach Jeff Banks attempt to make a change?

All signs would point to backup placekicker and lead kickoff specialist Will Stone. The only problem with that, however, is that Stone has never attempted a field goal in his three seasons with the Longhorns and has only been deployed in field goal duties.

To be fair, he has been wildly successful as the kickoff man, placing in the top 30 kickers in the country in touchbacks with 55 and a kickoff average of 63.1 yards per kick. But that also does not translate into field goal success.

Of course, there are also two other placekickers on the roster in Spencer Barnett and Charles Feris. However, neither of those kickers has ever seen action in a game in their careers, so it would be unlikely to see either kick in a game of this magnitude.

Either way, the Longhorns will have to make a decision, and if Auburn struggles in pregame warmups or has an early miss, it appears they are at least open to a change.

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