What’s up with Clemson’s kicker? Dabo’s take on Nolan Hauser’s missing mojo
Nolan Hauser was ridiculously good as a freshman.
But kickers aren’t immune to sophomore slumps.
After an all-time rookie season, Clemson football’s star kicker hasn’t been himself in 2025. Through five games for the Tigers (2-3, 1-2 ACC), Hauser is 4 for 6 on field goals (66%), 1 for 3 on field goals from 40-plus yards (33%) and has not attempted a field goal longer than 27 yards since Week 3.
The former five-star recruit and national leader in career high school field goals hasn’t been bad. He has no disastrous misses, and he’s 15 for 15 on extra points.
But for someone responsible for one of the most famous kicks in program history, it’s been notable – and a trend that’s coloring in-game decision making for Clemson.
“Inconsistent,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said Tuesday, when asked to evaluate Hauser’s performance this season. “I mean, he’s missed a couple of 50-plus yarders. … We haven’t kicked many. For the most part, he’s done a nice job making the ones we need him to make.”
Hauser’s drop-off after historic freshman year
Hauser missed a 48-yard field goal in Week 1 against LSU and a 52-yard field goal in Week 3 against Georgia Tech. Neither of those are gimmes, but they were notable misses for a kicker who made 75% of his attempts last year – a percentage that jumps up to 94% when you exclude the five field goals he had blocked.
Although Swinney pinned one of last year’s blocks on Hauser for low kicks, he blamed the field goal protection unit for the rest of the misses. Hauser’s only missed extra point was blocked, and five of his six missed field goals were also blocked.
Otherwise, he was 18 for 19 (94%).
In other words: Three games into the 2025 season, Hauser had already missed more field goals excluding blocks (two) than he did in 14 games last season (one).
And nobody remembers his one true field goal miss in 2024 – a 44-yarder in the ACC championship game against SMU – because Hauser ended that game with a walk-off 56-yard field goal that clinched Clemson a spot in the College Football Playoff.
It was the longest walk-off field goal in FBS conference championship game history.
“I mean, I threw him out there for a 56-yarder in a championship game,” Swinney said Tuesday. “I trust the kid. But he’s just had a couple misses this year.”
Dabo wants kicker’s ‘mojo’ to return
Although it wasn’t the lone factor in any of the decisions, Hauser’s inconsistency has noticeably impacted Swinney’s game management. In Clemson’s last two games, the Tigers decided against trotting out Hauser for long field goals in various moments.
Trailing Syracuse 17-7 in the second quarter of their game on Sept. 28, Clemson opted to punt from Syracuse’s 40 instead of having Hauser take a 58-yard field goal.
Trailing 24-14 in the same game, Clemson chose to throw a Hail Mary instead of putting Hauser out for a 59-yard field goal right before halftime. (On the play before, receiver Bryant Wesco Jr. dropped an open pass that would’ve set Hauser up for a shorter field goal of 52 yards, which Clemson planned to take.)
Swinney also confirmed that he decided against Hauser kicking a 54-yard field goal against UNC on Saturday ... because he didn’t like the swing Hauser took at the ball after UNC called a pre-snap timeout, which rendered the play dead but still allowed for a practice kick. Hauser’s practice kick was way short and way left.
Clemson was leading UNC 28-3 in the second quarter at that point.
“It was a low kick and they got their hand on it, so I fired him,” Swinney said. “I said, ‘OK, we’re gonna pooch it. He didn’t like it. I said, ‘Well, then you should’ve made a better kick.’ ... I just thought it was ugly.”
Hauser, to his credit, executed a solid pooch punt and hit the ball 27 yards down to UNC’s 9-yard line. He had a similar pooch punt inside the 20 against LSU in Week 1, on what would’ve been a 62-yard field goal attempt.
Hauser has also made field goals of 25, 27, 30 and 42 yards this season, is perfect inside 40 yards and hasn’t missed an extra point. So it’s not all bad for the sophomore and Clemson legacy from the Charlotte area, who was a FWAA Freshman All-American last year and close to automatic.
Swinney said it’s just a matter of Hauser getting his confidence back after missing “a couple kicks I felt like he should’ve made” during Clemson’s dismal start.
“I’d let him kick a 60 if he just will get his mojo back,” Swinney said.
