UM freshman kicke Bubba Baxa gets early jitters out.

Baxa back to making 50-yarders after initial struggle

CORAL GABLES — When Michael Badgley graduated after last season, the Miami Hurricanes were faced with filling a position that they hadn’t had to worry about in four seasons.

Badgley was always solid, with a career field-goal percentage just under 80 percent, while also picking up kickoff duties in his last two seasons. He holds the program records for points scored and career field goals made.

Suffice to say it’s a tall task to take over for arguably the best kicker in Miami history. Bubba Baxa will try. The freshman from Pasadena, Texas was the No. 14 kicker in the country, according to 247sports. He claims to have made a 50-yard field goal as an eighth grader, and has hit from 70 yards in practice.

“Just think about coming in as a true freshman and you’re kind of being handed the reins of this thing, you know, there is some pressure there,” said special teams coordinator Todd Hartley at the Hurricanes’ media day on Monday. “But here’s the deal. It’s his job. We’re not saying, ‘Hey, if you miss this kick, we’re going to somebody else.’ ”

That sentiment is important for a young kicker, even one with Baxa’s talent.

When Miami held its most recent scrimmage at Hard Rock Stadium on Aug. 11, Baxa struggled. Coach Mark Richt said Baxa had to “get over the fact that he’s a No. 1 kicker at the University of Miami.”

If Baxa thought his coaches were going to bench him after that, he would constantly be on edge. That isn’t the case, and it’s given Baxa an opportunity to grow from playing in a 65,000-seat stadium for the first time.

“Definitely not up to par,” Baxa said Monday. “I was a little wide-eyed. I’d never kicked in a big stadium like that. Definitely had a lot of thoughts in my head, and it didn’t do me well. But now I’ve got that out of my way. You live and you learn, and I’ve learned.”

That was one of the points of the Hurricanes’ scrimmage. It gave Richt the opportunity to get his players some experience under the lights in a big stadium, even if there weren’t people in the stands.

From all accounts, Baxa has been successful since then. Hartley says he’s back to making 50-yarders in practice again. In hindsight, he’s glad his first opportunity to kick in a big stadium didn’t come in the Sept. 2 season opener against LSU in the AdvoCare Classic.

“It helped a lot,” Baxa said. “Honestly, if that was the first time and I was kicking in that first game, I don’t know how good I would have done. I played Texas high school football and it’s huge with big stadiums and all that, but it’s nothing like that.”

Richt said Monday that he might allow Baxa to kick at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas the day before UM plays LSU to help him become more comfortable kicking in a stadium of that size.

There might be a little added pressure for Baxa, too. He says a lot of his friends and family from Pasadena are making the four-hour drive to attend the game.

“It’s as close as I’m gonna get to home, so I’ve gotta make the best of it,” Baxa said.

If the pressure of being the guy is getting to him, Baxa showed no signs of it at media day, calmly answering questions about his scrimmage struggles, his process and, yes, his name.

Whether Baxa can fill Badgley’s shoes remains to be seen, but he at least understands that he has the needed skill to be successful. Now all he has to do is keep his calm and confidence.

“You’ve gotta make the most of what you have,” Baxa said. “You’ve gotta not fold under the pressure. I’m here for a reason. Hartley’s evaluated me for a long time. Just gotta do what I’ve gotta do.”