Five years ago, Kansei Matsuzawa was watching YouTube videos, trying to figure out how to strike a football. On Saturday night, he stood at midfield in Honolulu, celebrating a kick that sealed the win for Hawaii. He also spoiled former Colts QB Andrew Luck’s first game as Stanford’s head coach.
The 25-year-old kicker drilled a 38-yard field goal as time expired, lifting Hawaii to a dramatic 23-20 win. Matsizawa didn’t budge all night as he answered Stanford’s pushes with composure, delivering a sought-after victory for a Rainbow Warriors program still finding its footing under head coach Timmy Chang.
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Raised in Japan, he fell in love with soccer before discovering football during a trip to the U.S. By 21, he had made the leap to move full-time, chasing the sport with no formal training but pure determination. The young star spoke about the game with utmost exuberance, explaining how he gained more confidence with every small win during the game.
“I’m kind of nervous right now, more than when I [kicked the] game-winning field goal,” Matsuzawa said afterward. “Speaking English is tough, but yeah, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the moment. And when we gave up the second touchdown to Stanford, then I was like, ‘Oh, this is gonna be my game.’ And I just prepared for the game-tying field goal and also game-winning field goal. I knew it was going to happen.”
Those words reflected the same quiet self-belief that carried him from Japan to the golden pages of Hawaii football’s history.
How Kansei Matsuzawa Gradually Became Hawaii’s Clutch Specialist From A YouTube Kicker
Matsuzawa’s resourcefulness has shaped more than his football career. During his junior-college years at Hocking College in Ohio, he leaned on YouTube again, but this time to learn English and also how to cut his own hair when money was tight. The haircut results remain a mystery, but his progress as a kicker has no doubts.
In his first season at Hawaii, Matsuzawa went 12-of-16 on field goal attempts and converted all 32 extra-point tries. He once connected on a 50-yarder at Hocking, proof of a leg that can extend well beyond his game-winner against Stanford. His composure stood out on Saturday, especially after a shaky week of practice.
“All the coaches and the team [were] kind of worried about me, I think,” he said. “But I never lose my confidence. It was like, after practice, my legs are already dead. … But after [those] misses, it is what it is, and just I focused on like the next play, and I execute.”
Behind quarterback Micah Alejado’s late drive, Matsuzawa’s boot sealed Hawaii’s first win over a power-conference opponent since 2019. The victory also marked the program’s first-ever triumph against an ACC team, leaving the Japanese-born kicker at the center of one of Week 1’s most memorable storylines.
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