By Heath Bradley
Tallahassee, FL – On a night that saw the No. 10 Clemson Tigers fall to the No. 4 Florida Seminoles 49-37 in Doak Campbell Stadium, Clemson placekicker Chandler Catanzaro kicked his way into the Clemson record books.
With 7:07 left in the third quarter and the Tigers leading 28-21, Catanzaro connected on a 50-yard field goal to give the Tigers a 31-21 lead. The kick marked the 15thconsecutive field goal made by Catanzaro, breaking the previous record of 14 consecutive made field goals, which was set by Obed Ariri in 1980. Catanzaro’s 15 consecutive makes dates back to the 2011 season, Catanzaro’s last miss came against Wake Forest, a game in which he later hit the game winning 43 yard kick as time expired to clinch the ACC Atlantic Division title.
Catanzaro actually looks back to the 2010 matchup between the Tigers and the Seminoles in Doak Campbell Stadium as the point when his confidence started to turn in the right direction. After struggling early in his freshman season, Catanzaro hit a 29-yard field goal with under a minute remaining to pull the Tigers into a 13-13 tie. Even in a game that the Tigers would eventually lose on a 55-yard field goal as time expired, Catanzaro found confidence in making such an important kick, a confidence he has only continued to build. “I was very confident, I know what happened two years ago. That kick actually, at the end of that game where I tied it, it sprung my confidence. I used that; I went 6-7 to end that year. The next year I just kept building confidence. I feel on top of the world with my kicking right now.”
Following the game, the disappointment of defeat was easy to see in the eyes of Catanzaro as he spoke with the media. On a day that saw the Tigers suffer a tough defeat at the hands of a top-5 team in Florida State, Catanzaro was able to pull some positives away from the game. “It is tough losing as a team, FSU is a great team, but personally it was a great night for me. Hitting a 50-yarder is pretty cool to break the record; it is also my long field goal.” Always the team player, Catanzaro was quick to thank the rest of his special teams unit, thanking snapper Michael Sobeski and holder Spencer Benton for their roles in helping him break the record.
As the Tigers move forward in the 2012 season, having a kicker with the confidence and consistency of Catanzaro can only be a positive for the Tigers. As the Tigers head to Boston next week to take on the Boston College Eagles, Catanzaro will travel to Boston as the reigning winner of the McFadden O’Rourke Leather Helmet Award Winner. The 2011 Clemson versus BC matchup saw Catanzaro go 5-5 on field goals and score 18 total points en route to being named national placekicker-of-the-week by College Football Performance Awards, one of three winners of the Lou Groza Star-of-the-Week Award, and ACC Specialist-of-the-Week.