Freshman Kicker Will Bettridge Finds His Footing Against Miami

The true freshman made all four of his field goal attempts against the Hurricanes on Saturday

To say that points were at a premium in Saturday's football game between Miami and Virginia would be a colossal understatement. Neither team scored a touchdown in the four quarters of regulation nor in the first two overtime periods and the Hurricanes eventually escaped Charlottesville with an ugly 14-12 victory over the Cavaliers in four overtimes. 

All of UVA's points came off the foot of true freshman kicker Will Bettridge, who was the one glowing spot for Virginia on offense. Bettridge got the Cavaliers on the board with a 27-yard field goal early in the 3rd quarter and then he gave them the lead a few minutes into the fourth with another chip-shot 24-yarder. 

The stakes were raised when Miami kicker Andres Borregales, who had his field goal attempt hit the upright as time expired to give Virginia a 30-28 win over Miami last season, knocked through a 20-yarder as time expired to tie the score at 6-6 and send Saturday's game to overtime. 

It was a true kickers' duel between Bettridge and Borregales, who both grew up in Miami and have been friends off the field for a long time. 

Little do they know this was a long coming @Borregales_andy Love you bro!! #8/8 pic.twitter.com/KohiWwPv57

— Will Bettridge (@will_bettridge) October 30, 2022

The duel continued in overtime as both Borregales and Bettridge were asked to kick high-pressure and lengthy field goals to keep their respective teams' hopes alive. Borregales converted from 42 yards in the first overtime and then Bettridge matched him with a 41-yarder to send the game to a second overtime. As it had all game, the UVA offense sputtered and Bettridge was again forced to kick from 41 yards and he converted once again, capping his perfect 4/4 performance. Borregales responded in turn, also completing a 4/4 game as he was good from 37 yards out to tie the game at 12-12 and send it to a third overtime. 

With the new overtime rules, the teams then alternated two-point conversion attempts so the day was done for both Borregales, who was the No. 1-ranked kicker in the class of 2021 (per Kornblue Kicking) and Bettridge, who was the No. 1-ranked kicker in the class of 2022. 

A five-star recruit and a consensus top-10 kicker in the country across the various recruiting services, Will Bettridge arrived at Virginia this year from Gulliver Prep in Miami with a lot of hype as it seemed it was only a matter of time before he inherited the starting kicking job. 

Former walk-on Brendan Farrell, who was placed on scholarship back in August, earned the right to retain his starting job in fall camp. Farrell went 1/2 at Illinois in week 2 and then 3/4 against Old Dominion in week 3, including the game-winner as time expired, after which he was named the ACC Specialist of the Week. 

Disaster struck in the first quarter of Virginia's week 4 game at Syracuse, as Tony Elliott asked Farrell to attempt field goals of 48 and 50 yards on back-to-back drives. His previous career long was 43 yards. Farrell missed both field goals badly and was subsequently benched. He now handles kickoffs for UVA, while the true freshman Bettridge has been given a chance as the starting placekicker. 

Bettridge hit his first career field goal the following week at Duke and then followed that up with a 47-yard field goal in week 6 against Louisville, a strong start to his kicking career. 

Then came a confidence-shattering game against Georgia Tech in Atlanta last week. Bettridge pushed his first field goal attempt wide right from 39 yards out. He converted from 28 yards out in the third quarter, but then a few minutes later, he delivered a low kick on a 29-yard attempt and had his kick blocked. Bettridge also missed an extra point, leaving a total of seven points off the board and keeping the game at a one-score margin. The UVA defense smothered the Yellow Jackets and secured the 16-9 win and Bettridge vowed to do better his next time out. 

He certainly kept his promise. 

“I kind of put that game beside me. I didn't want that to be what people thought of me," Bettridge said after his bounce-back performance against Miami. "I worked hard. The whole team worked hard this week. You know, we had just won the game against Georgia Tech, but that wasn't how I wanted to play this whole week. We worked hard and we just grinded. We didn't get the outcome we wanted today but you have to put that behind you.”

Virginia frustratingly didn't get the win against Miami, but it was no fault of Bettridge, who did everything UVA asked of him, including making a pair of lengthy field goals with the game on the line. The talent is certainly there and it appears the work ethic and mentality are too. Will Bettridge has the potential to bring reliability and consistency to UVA's kicking game during his career at Virginia.

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