Kentucky freshman Jacob Kauwe hit three 60-yard field goals in practice

Jacob Kauwe is No. 2 on Kentucky’s Week 1 depth chart at placekicker and kickoff specialist. That said, the Cats will find a way to use the true freshman’s remarkable leg strength this season.

While discussing special teams at today’s pre-Southern Miss press conference, Mark Stoops brought up Kauwe more than once. Redshirt senior Alex Raynor is listed first at placekicker after hitting 10 of 11 field goals last season, the only miss coming from 53 yards out. Stoops said he likes Raynor’s consistency, but mentioned that Kauwe recently hit three 60-yard field goals in practice, an indicator Kentucky could go to him in long-range situations.

“I feel good. Obviously, with Alex, he’s a guy that’s been very consistent, has a very strong leg, but you look at [Jacob] Kauwe behind him and man, he has an extremely strong leg. So, Jacob, we have a lot of confidence in Alex. I mean, I don’t know what the number will be, I mean, but if I know Jacob has hit — we’ve tried to 60 [yards] three times, and he hit him all three times. With full units, offense against defense, so we have that as well.”

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Kauwe first caught the eye of Kentucky special teams coach Jay Boulware at Kohl’s Professional Football Kicking Camp in May 2023. His career-long is 49 yards, set during his senior year Billings West in Montana; however, you may remember the video that went around last summer of him hitting a 75-yarder.

Even if Raynor remains Kentucky’s starting placekicker this season, Kentucky will use Kauwe’s leg in other ways. He is listed second at kickoffs behind fellow newcomer Aidan Laros, who will share punting duties with junior Wilson Berry. Laros, a native of South Africa, began his college career at Charlotte and transferred to UT Martin, where he earned FCS All-American honors as a punter while also handling kickoff and placekicking duties. With Laros and Kauwe handling kickoffs, Stoops is confident Kentucky will begin winning the field position battle again.

“Aiden is also very strong with kickoffs, along with Jacob. Between Aiden and Jacob, our kickoffs should be pretty deep, and we should have high kicks and be able to cover and not run into some of the problems that we did late last year.”

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