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One of the most delightful developments of the 2020 Missouri football season was learning about Missouri’s new freshman kicker, Harrison Mevis.
Mevis, a 3-star kicker out of Warsaw, Indiana, was rated the second best kicker in the 2020 class by Kohl’s Kicking. The scouting report suggested he had unbelievable power in his leg, but it was his accuracy that stood out in year one on campus.
Oh, and there was that other thing.
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Mevis is a rather large for a kicker. He’s listed at 5-foot-11 and 236 pounds. And he’s an absolute delight to watch on the football field.
As a freshman, he was completely unflappable. He was 6-for-6 on extra points and crushed a 52-yard field goal (!!!) between the upsrights against LSU. He made a field goal as time expired at the end of the first half against both Kentucky and South Carolina. He kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired in the Tigers’ season finale against Arkansas.
Not bad for a 18-year old freshman playing in his first ever college football season. It will go down as the most productive freshman season by a Missouri kicker in at least the last two decades.
Missouri’s Freshman Kickers (2000-2020):
2020 - Harrison Mevis:
- 28-for-28 (100%) on extra points
- 17-for-20 (85%) on field goal attempts
- 79 points in 10 games
2016 - Tucker McCann:
- 39-for-43 (91%) on extra points
- 6-for-12 (50%) on field goal attempts
- 57 points in 12 games
2012 - Andrew Baggett:
33-for-37 (89%) on extra points
14-for-20 (70%) on field goals
75 points in 12 games
Mevis’ production is not just impressive relative to former Missouri freshman kickers, it’s also up there with the best of the best nationally. The list of freshman kickers who made at least 85 percent of their field goals and 100 percent of their extra points in the last 20 years is just seven names long (min. 20 XP and 20 FGA). Harrison Mevis was the latest addition to that list a year ago, according to Sports Reference.
#CollegeKickers have become quite the frustration for fanbases around the country over the years. With Mevis in the fold, Missouri shouldn’t have to worry about the kicking game for at least the next couple seasons.