Why South Carolina’s Will Muschamp kept faith in his kickers

Maybe there was some consternation among fans when South Carolina kicker Parker White lined up for field goal early in the second quarter.

That would be fair considering in six games for the Gamecocks, the Wando football product had missed all seven kicks he attempted outside 33 yards.

There wasn’t much worry for USC coach Will Muschamp, and it paid off when White’s 47-yarder became the team’s longest make of the year. He’s held with White through the rough start and he said that’s part of his job.

“When you show confidence in a player, eventually they see it and they take ownership in it,” Muschamp said. “And when you know they have the ability to eventually do the job, that’s part of what coaches do. And I had total confidence in him and all.

“This is a long season, and it certainly paid off for him today.”

The kick got the Gamecocks on the board, but it wasn’t the last big kicks he hit. His 21-yarder in the fourth quarter broke a 9-9 tie and put the Gamecocks up for good. His 36-yard make with 1:13 left in the game forced Tennessee to drive for a touchdown at the end (which it narrowly missed).

But those kicks also came after a setback.

The game was only tied because the Gamecocks couldn’t convert an extra point. It wasn’t on White, as a snapping/holding issue ended up with a desperation heavy from reserve quarterback Danny Gordon.

“We had a bad snap and whether he was able not to get it down, I don’t know,” Muschamp said. “Bad snaps on field goal, we’ve got to work through. Ben (Asbury has) been very, very consistent, so he’s certainly very capable.”

That’s Muschamp again showing confidence in a player who’s had issues. The coach also backed No. 2 kicker Alex Woznick, who opened the season as a starter, but fell behind White.

“They both have the ability,” Muschamp said, “and we’ve got to continue to reinforce it.”

This story was originally published October 15, 2017 at 1:30 PM with the headline "Why South Carolina’s Will Muschamp kept faith in his kickers."