Coach has confidence in kicker

ASU Coach Blake Anderson expressed confidence in sophomore kicker Sawyer Williams, who kicked to kickoffs out of bounds and missed a field goal and a point-after attempt in the 48-3 victory over the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

Williams kicked the opening kickoff out of bounds, then missed the point-after attempt after ASU’s second touchdown. He missed a 36-yard field goal attempt during the third quarter.

“You can call it what it is: he didn’t have a very good night,” Anderson said Monday.

Williams, who helped win two state championships at Allen (Texas) High, is 2 for 3 on field goal attempts this season with a long of 39 yards.

Anderson compared Williams’ struggle to a hitch in a golf swing.

“There’s just a lot of similarities between a guy’s in a rhythm with a golf swing, and it takes one small hiccup to change that,” Anderson said. “I think he had that one issue Saturday night and mentally didn’t move past it.”

Anderson said that coaches could “scream at him” all they want, but “nobody hates missing a kick more than he does.”

In order to fix the issue, Anderson said the “best thing I can do is just encourage him, support him and get out of his way so I don’t make it worse.”

“We just try to encourage him and reassure him that he’s okay,” Anderson said. “Just to get back to your basics and have a good week of work, and he may come back and have the game of his life come Saturday. We trust him. He’s our guy.”

— Brooks Kubena