Kicker Competition Good for Longhorns Says Steve Sarkisian

While Bert Auburn handled field goal duties for the Longhorns in 2022, he could see competition from Will Stone this spring.

© Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

When it comes to positions that find themselves undervalued by fans in football, few are higher on the list than kickers. One or two missed kicks can be the difference between a cemented roster spot and fans clamoring for you to be cut. 

Luckily for the Texas Longhorns, though, they have had no shortage of great kickers come through Austin - from Phil Dawson and Justin Tucker to more recent names like Cameron Dicker. 

Now, third-year kicker Bert Auburn is hoping to add his name to the ranks of legendary, but could have competition from second-year kicker Will Stone. 

"You see the consistency of Bert (Auburn) kind of carrying on from where he was a year ago," Sarkisian said. "You definitely see the leg and the leg talent out of Will (Stone). We'll really dig deeper and dive deeper into that in the summer, and then as we dig ourselves into the fall."

"It's a good problem to have. When you have a couple guys who have experience and have talent, and then they get there's an open competition that way for them. Hopefully that brings the best out of them."

In his first full season handling kicking duties for the Longhorns, Auburn connected on 21-of-26 field goal attempts while going a perfect 55-of-55 on his extra point attempts. 

As for Stone, he handled kickoff duties as a freshman - kicking off 86 times for 5,369 yards 62.4 avg with 26 touchbacks.

Having a reliable kicker can be the difference between winning or losing close games, and something the Longhorns have come to expect. Whether Auburn maintains the starting job or Stone wins it is yet to be seen, but whoever starts in the fall will be expected to get the job done consistently. 

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You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98

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