Collin Rogers, SMU
The leading scorer in SMU history isn’t Eric Dickerson or Doak Walker. It’s Rogers, who broke the school’s career scoring record earlier this season. If there’s one kicker in the field who can be trusted to hit a long field goal to win a Playoff game, it’s Rogers, who’s made 15 kicks from 40-plus this season.
Rogers has seven makes in 11 attempts from 50-plus, tying him with Michigan’s Dominic Zvada for the most field goals from 50 yards or longer. He’s 23-for-31 on the season, including a 5-for-5 performance in a loss to BYU in September. Consistency was an issue earlier in his career, and his eight misses are on the high side for an elite kicker. But that’s partly because SMU knows Rogers has the leg to make long field goals and isn’t afraid to call his number.
Ryan Barker, Penn State
Some of the headlines from early in the season were “Penn State has a kicker problem” and “Penn State fans beg for a new kicker.” Uh-oh! While field goals are less than automatic for the Nittany Lions, Barker has eased some of those worries since replacing Sander Sahaydak in October.
Sahaydak won the job in preseason camp but went 2-for-5 to start the season. Barker, a redshirt freshman from Landenberg, Pa., took over and made his first eight tries, including the game-winner in overtime against USC. Barker has shown he can kick under pressure, but not necessarily from long range. His longest made field goal is 49 yards, and he’s 4-for-7 from 40-plus. When in doubt, Penn State might want to leave the offense on the field — the Nittany Lions are 16-for-21 converting fourth downs.
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GO FURTHER
Which College Football Playoff teams can trust their kickers in the clutch?
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