No punts, 84 points: Presbyterian has record-setting day in Kevin Kelley debut

Sporadically throughout the first half, the lone videoboard at Bailey Memorial Stadium ran the same clip. It’s a season ticket promotion, produced in-house, that features a back-and-forth between Presbyterian College football coach Kevin Kelley and president Matthew vandenBerg. It’s a play on Kelley’s signature style as vandenBerg throws different situations Kelley’s way to see if the coach would ever crack and admit to punting.

The spoof ends with Kelley looking into the camera and saying, “He’s texting me now. Which one of these emojis means leave me alone?”

The crowd of 3,238 never grew old of the clip, cheering each time it appeared. At its last play — with 9:16 remaining in the second quarter — the home team already had 35 points.

There’s something coming as advertised — and then there’s what happened here Saturday. Kelley, who made national headlines as the successful Arkansas high school coach who rarely punts, regularly goes for two points after touchdowns and is committed to onside kicks, led Presbyterian to an 84-43 win over St. Andrews in his college debut.

“Some people were excited about something different coming,” Kelley said, “but I don’t think they were sure it was gonna be any good. So with that said, what I wanted them to do was give them a reason to think, ‘OK, that might be good, now maybe I want to buy into that. Maybe I want to come watch them, maybe I want to watch them on TV. Maybe I want to show some support.’

“But you gotta give them something.”

How about re-writing the record book in Week 1?

The Blue Hose, accounting for numbers since the program moved to the Division I level in 2007, set school records for points, touchdowns (12), total yards (814) and first-half points (56).

Quarterback Ren Hefley broke a Football Championship Subdivision record for touchdown passes with 10. He also set a PC record with 39 completions. His 576 yards are second-most in school history. The Blue Hose also broke a Division I team record — accounting for FCS and Football Bowl Subdivision programs — for passing TDs in a game with 12.

Hefley, a former walk-on at Michigan who played in Kelley’s system at Pulaski Academy in Arkansas, gave his performance a “B or C” grade.

“Some of the big plays were late throws or bad reads,” Hefley said. “People from stands look and see a touchdown, but Coach Kelley’s looking at me because he knows when we play some of our tougher opponents like Campbell or Davidson, that’s not going to work. Like, I gotta get the ball out on time, I got to get it to the right guy.”

Presbyterian attempted a 2-point conversion after six of its first seven TDs (converting three of them), tried an onside kick after its first 10 TDs (going 1-for-10) and, yes, never punted. In fact, PC doesn’t even list a punter on its depth chart.

Cameras and boom microphones from HBO and Overtime covered the sideline to document Kelley’s first game for upcoming features. Both outlets couldn’t have scripted a more fitting opening scene as Presbyterian won the toss, deferred and then Campbell Watson recovered Warner Bush’s onside kick.

“They weren’t ready for it on the other side,” Watson said.

Hefley went 4-for-4 on the opening possession, ending with a short toss to Lawson Bachelder for a score. Hefley threw touchdown passes to seven different receivers, including three to Jalyn Witcher and one to Tyler Huff.

Huff, PC’s starting quarterback for parts of the previous two seasons and a second team All-Pioneer League performer last spring, lined up in a variety of positions Saturday, including next to Hefley in the backfield. Huff carried four times for 32 yards, caught two passes and completed seven of nine throws for 63 yards and two TDs.

Kelley packaging his two QBs together was a sliver of a loaded playbook dripping in creativity. Flea flickers, double reverses, end-arounds — they were all part of a 94-play afternoon.

“(Kelley’s) just making stuff up out there,” Hefley said. “He’ll start drawing stuff up on the sideline. He was installing new plays to me and Tyler before the game.”

At Pulaski, where he won nine state titles in 18 years, Kelley’s offenses were known to light up scoreboards. Saturday, if Kelley wanted to keep the gas pedal down, the Blue Hose could have hit 100.

It led 77-43 five seconds into the fourth quarter against North Carolina’s St. Andrews, an NAIA program.

“I think the guys played hard enough and the coaches did a good enough job to give people something to buy into,” Kelley said.

PC hosts Fort Lauderdale in its next game, on Sept. 11.

This story was originally published September 4, 2021 at 10:01 PM.