Harrison Mevis is chasing history

One of the best kickers in the world resides in Columbia, Missouri. His name is Harrison Mevis, but you might know him affectionately by his nickname, ‘Thiccer Kicker.’

The gentleman listed on the roster at 5-foot-11 and more than 250 pounds has his own t-shirt line at 573 Tees. He’s yet to miss an extra point in his college career, and he’s already tied for the most 50-yard field goals in Missouri program history (6).

It’s difficult to compare Mevis to his contemporaries. He made 92 percent of his field goals a year ago. There have only been four other SEC kickers in the last 20 years to make at least 90 percent of their field goals in an individual season in which they had at least 20 attempts.

Mevis is a fan favorite. Think about that for a second. A college kicker - one of the most feared entities in sports - has become a fan favorite at Mizzou where things are known to go wrong. Do you know how hard that is? Mevis makes it look so easy - and he is so consistent - that he’s become one of the few individuals Mizzou fans have counted on as an “automatic” over the past couple seasons.

The result is a chase at not just an All-American bid, as he was awarded a year ago, but the chance to go down as one of the best kickers in the history of Mizzou football, and to join the conversation with some of the best to ever do it in the SEC.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the records Mevis is currently chasing:

• Most Field Goals in an Individual Missouri Season: Grant Ressel (2009) is the current record-holder with 26 field goals made in an individual season. Harrison Mevis is already third on the list based on his 23 makes a year ago.
• Most made field goals in a career at Mizzou: Andrew Baggett (2012-2015) is the current record-holder with 66 career makes. Mevis’ 40 career makes already ranks seventh in program history. Five more makes will put Mevis into the top five all time, and the Thiccer Kicker could match Baggett’s record this season if he were to tie Ressel’s 2009 record for most made field goals in an individual season (26).
• Most 50-yard field goals in a career at Mizzou: Mevis is already tied for the Tigers’ career record with six such field goals. His next make from 50 yards out will break the tie with Tom Whelihan (1984-1987).
• Most points scored in a career at Mizzou: The current top five is a ‘who’s who’ of Mizzou kickers... And Brad Smith (naturally). Jeff Wolfert (362 points), Tucker McCann (358), Andrew Baggett (355), Brad Smith (284) and Grant Ressel (270) comprise the current Missouri top five scorers of all time. Mevis is 13th on the list. If Mevis matches his production from a year ago (110 points, 9th best in Missouri single-season history), he would jump to fourth all-time, behind only Wolfert, McCann and Baggett.

Mevis is also hoping to become one of the most accurate kickers on extra points in SEC history. There are only seven kickers in SEC history to make 100 percent of their extra points on a minimum of 100 attempts (Rodrigo Blankenship, Daniel Carlson, John Beckswoort, Van Tiffin, Damon Duval, Brandon Coutu and David Browndyke). Mevis is currently 69-for-69 in his career. Another strong season would make him the eighth kicker on that list.

Building a legacy as a kicker is not an easy feat. It requires remarkable consistency performing a job that is anything but. The Tigers have had some darn good kickers over the years, a couple of which will go down as all-time greats.

Wolfert and Ressel, in my opinion, are the two best kickers I’ve personally watched at Mizzou. Mevis’ first two seasons at Missouri put him on the trajectory to match or even exceed those two legends by the end of his college career.

Mevis is chasing history, and so far, he seems to be out-kicking his competition.