Re: It's disturbing that everybody can see it except for McVay.

Here's a 2019 article about his kicking in college. Sounds like he hasn't changed much since then.


Arizona kicker Lucas Havrisik gets into the swing of things after costly misses in 2018
by Michael Lev, Arizona Daily Star
Published 2:28 p.m. MT Aug 1, 2019


Although the discipline itself requires technical precision, there’s little subtlety when it comes to placekicking.

Either you make it, or you don’t.

Lucas Havrisik simply wasn’t making enough kicks for the Arizona Wildcats last season. As a result, he lost his job as the primary placekicker.

Havrisik handled the demotion like the pro he aspires to become someday.

“I wasn’t performing,” Havrisik said this week. “I took it as a job. I lost it. It was my fault. But I kept working. I didn’t really pout about it.”

Havrisik’s approach to his demotion was evident in two ways. He remained Arizona’s kickoff specialist and continued to pound the ball into the end zone. (Havrisik finished second in the Pac-12 and ninth among FBS kickers with a touchback rate of 81.1%).

Additionally, when he got another chance, Havrisik delivered.

After not attempting a field goal in a game in more than a month, Havrisik was summoned for a pair of long-distance tries in the first half against Colorado. He drilled them both, from 49 and 55 yards, in a game Arizona won by eight points.

Those were the last field goals Havrisik attempted last season. He finished the year having made 6 of 11 tries.

“Those were big for him,” UA special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer said. “It got his confidence back up. I think that really carried over into the offseason, into now.”

Havrisik has performed well this offseason, solidifying his place as Arizona’s primary placekicker. Josh Pollack, who took over for Havrisik in midseason, has graduated. Freshman walk-on Nathan Halsell is competing with Havrisik, and Springer stressed that no jobs have been locked down at this point. But the gig is Havrisik’s to lose, and Springer likes what he has seen so far from the strong-legged junior.

First, the physical:

“I can’t say enough good words about him from an off-the-field standpoint, treating his body like a professional.”

And then, the mental:

“He’s got those five, six games (under) his belt where he played last year — and got benched. It’s really made him mature. I think going through that, going through those ups and those downs, has really made him realize ‘hey, man, the mental game here is a big part of it.’”

Havrisik said he never lost confidence in himself, despite missing five of his first nine field goal attempts and a pair of extra points. He also didn’t unearth any major technical flaws, aside from “a little different skip in the way I finished.”

“In summer camp last year, I was probably kicking the best of my life,” Havrisik said. “To go into the season and not perform like I should, I was just kind of disappointed in myself.

“Going into Colorado, I was like, ‘Just do your normal thing. If you can bang them in practice, you can do it in the game.’ ”

Havrisik has worked on becoming more consistent. He has an NFL-caliber leg. But it doesn’t matter much if the ball doesn’t split the uprights.

Havrisik learned that the hard way last season — an experience that probably will benefit him in the long run.

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Havrisik said. “It’s not always a smooth road as a kicker. You get your shots, and you’ve gotta make the most out of them.”

[www.azcentral.com]

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/17/2023 04:37PM by MamaRAMa.