After missing two field-goal tries against Notre Dame, Georgia Tech kicker Harrison Butker has some advice from his coach.
“He’s just got to go kick and quit thinking so (darn) much,” coach Paul Johnson said Wednesday. “Just go kick the ball.”
Butker, best known for his 53-yard strike that sent the Georgia game to overtime last November, has had perplexing trouble from closer distances. Last season, he made 2-of-7 field-goal tries from between 30 and 39 yards. From 40 yards and beyond, he was 4-for-6. His misses Saturday against Notre Dame were from 30 and 43 yards. They were his first field-goal tries of the season and, in fact, his first since the kick against Georgia.
Spliced another way, Butker is 10-for-14 at Bobby Dodd Stadium in his career and 11-for-20 on the road and at neutral sites. His four home misses averaged 43.5 yards. His nine other misses averaged 35.7 yards. Butker said last week that the Bobby Dodd Stadium surface is very good, but the winds are challenging.
“Butker’s really good in practice,” Johnson said. “It’s just being consistent. He was pretty good in the last regular-season game (Georgia), and he’s been good in other games in clutch kicks. It was just one of those days. It was kind of one of those days for everybody, not just him.”
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