There was a time when Alabama football fans’ greatest anxiety was leaving a game in the hands of a kicker. The list of bad memories with which the field goal unit has been associated is lengthy.
Alabama Football: Kicking Woes
There was Alabama’s 9-6 overtime loss to LSU in the 2011 regular season. Of course, the Tide avenged the loss in the national championship game, but the memory of the first matchup remains a bitter one for the fan base. Alabama made only two of six field goal attempts in what was, at the time, a monumental game.
Perhaps the most dreadful memory is the 2013 Iron Bowl, in which Alabama missed all four of its field goal attempts in a 34-28 defeat. Cade Foster, who was the scapegoat of the 2011 LSU game after making just one of four attempts, missed all three of his tries in the 2013 Iron Bowl. This, along with a multitude of other Alabama mishaps, let Auburn back into the game and set up Adam Griffith to try a long game winning field goal. One can hardly blame Griffith for not hitting the 57-yard kick, but a member of the field goal unit pushing Chris Davis out of bounds should not have been too much to ask.
In the 2017 national championship game, Andy Pappanastos nearly cost Alabama a title in disastrous fashion. After missing a kick early in the game, Pappanastos initially did well to redeem himself. The kicker made a pair of second half field goals to put the Tide in position to win the game. However, when given the chance to be the hero, Pappanastos missed a chip shot at the end of regulation to the dismay of Alabama fans everywhere. Of course, this miss would set the stage for one of the best plays in college football history, but it reinforced the belief that Alabama kickers were somehow cursed.
In the 2019 Iron Bowl, with Alabama still clinging to College Football Playoff hopes, the field goal unit cost the Tide once again. At the end of what was already a bizarre shootout of a game, Joseph Bulovas missed a 30-yard try that would have potentially forced overtime, and the Tide lost 48-45.
Bulovas was out there largely due to an injury to then-true freshman kicker Will Reichard, a highly touted recruit that was alleged to be the man that would end Alabama’s kicking woes.
Alabama Football: Reichard brings stability
Reichard, the following year, was finally healthy and seized the starting position. The sophomore lived up to the promise and generally put Alabama football fans at ease. He was the cherry on top for Alabama’s dominant 2020 team that went undefeated and won a national championship. Reichard finished the season 14-14 on field goals, 84-84 on extra points, and was a finalist for the Lou Groza Award. Most of the Tide’s games were uncompetitive in 2020, but Reichard did make important kicks in wins over Georgia and Florida.
Last season, Reichard’s streak of perfection ended, but he remained an effective weapon for the Tide. He finished the season 22-28 on field goals and 71-72 on PATs. More importantly, he didn’t cost Alabama any games. In a year where it felt like Alabama was in a nail-biter every Saturday, Reichard’s consistency of performance was critical.
Will Reichard returns in 2022 for his senior year and, for at least one more year, Alabama football fans will not have to sweat every time the field goal team trots out onto the field.