By Ernie Gonzalez (@superego1012):
Snap. Hold. Kick. Three steps. Three points. Simple enough right? Well, not so fast.
“It’s definitely not as easy as it looks,” said Bryce Crawford, San Jose State football placekicker.
Let’s say an offense is in a two-minute drill, on the road, down by two. Championship scenario on the line.
Placekicker “x” who hasn’t fastened his chinstraps all game is positioned six feet under a crowd of home-field hecklers warming up with the practice net.
His team marches downfield and sets him up for a game-winning 50-yard field goal with four seconds remaining.
Make it, you’re a hero. Shank it, and receive a tremendous amount of criticism for the next few days.
Crawford hasn’t had to deal with that amount of pressure yet, but fresh off of an incredible junior season, he knows those are the moments you eagerly await for as a kicker in college football.
Crawford’s first kick was actually a PAT attempt in the third quarter of the 2015 season opener at home against the University of New Hampshire.
Austin Lopez, the game’s starting placekicker was struggling prior to Crawford’s first kick. Lopez missed a field goal as a result of a bad snap in the first quarter and had a PAT blocked in the second frame.
A week later, Crawford missed from 36 yards against Air Force and disappeared for the remainder of the 2015 season, but little did he know he would fill in for Lopez perfectly.
Turns out, Crawford, a Texas native and Lopez, also from the “Lone Star State” grew up kicking together.
“We had the same kicking coach, Scott Blanton,” Crawford said. Blanton played in the NFL between 1995-98 for the Washington Redskins. “I watched [Lopez] kick here so it’s cool to carry on his legacy.”
Crawford hasn’t just filled Lopez’s shoes, he gave them a new size.
Lopez in four seasons with the Spartans hit three field goals of 50 or more yards, while Crawford hit from 50 twice in two weeks during the 2017 season.
The Lou Groza Collegiate Placekicker Award National Semifinalist finished the year one of just two kickers nationwide to bang five field goals of 50 or more yards.
“It feels really good to do that,” Crawford said. “The coaches have had a lot of faith in us as a field goal unit throughout the year.”
Ironically, number 38’s first field goal was from 38 yards, and since that kick, Crawford is 30/35 from field goals and 51/57 on extra points. All of Crawford’s 2017 misses came on attempts greater than 50 yards.
Spartan head coach Brent Brennan sarcastically told the media after the season finale that he was upset that Crawford missed a fourth quarter attempt against Wyoming.
“I would have liked to see him hit that 57-yarder,” Brennan said with a grin. “But Bryce has been great all season for us.”
“I think it’s one of those components of your team that doesn’t always get talked about unless they’re hitting 50-yarders with regularity,” Brennan said.
Crawford has had an immense impact for the SJSU as he has led the Spartans in points for two consecutive seasons.
“It’s humbling. You definitely don’t get the press that most of the quarterbacks and running backs do,” Crawford said. “I enjoy it … I’m not the spotlight type.”
Someone else who likes to hide underneath the shadows is Crawford’s long snapper, junior Harrison Hoffman, who even to some faithful Spartans, is an unfamiliar name. But that’s what Hoffman wants.
“If it looks like it just should happen, I feel like I’ve done my job,” Hoffman said humblingly. “When people watch it on TV, I don’t want anyone to think about me … if they are, that’s an issue.”
Being a long snapper or a kicker are both positions that takes numerous hours of practice to master, only to be sent on the field during pivotal times of a football game to end up being the hero or the scapegoat.
Lesson here: Don’t take Crawford for granted, because he knows his opportunities are limited too, and there’s no one working harder to keep fans satisfied than the guy who kicks the ball through the uprights.