Since arriving in South Bend, Mitch Jeter hasn’t always had it easy. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish kicker was a transfer portal coup for the program this offseason but has seen his share of bumpy moments. Yet, as the team travels through the College Football Playoff, head coach Marcus Freeman has praised the impact of his special teams star ahead of the Sugar Bowl.
Marcus Freeman Full of Confidence in Notre Dame Kicker Mitch Jeter
You can’t spell “special teams” without “special,” that’s a statement of fact. Kickers, punters, long snappers, and every component of punt and kick units have a critical impact on the outcome of games. They’re a different breed and run on a unique brand of confidence, and right now, there’s no College Football Playoff team more confident in its kicker than Freeman is in Jeter.
The Notre Dame special teams standout has been golden in the biggest moments for the Fighting Irish this season. The latest was a two-field goal outing against the Indiana Hoosiers, including a 49-yarder with seven seconds remaining in the first half, reestablishing a 14-point advantage for Freeman’s team.
“Jeter’s kicks were huge, especially the one I think was 49 yards before half,” the Notre Dame head coach said after the win. “That was huge because not only was it an important field goal, but the length of that. He’s been doing it in practice, but to go out and do it in a game in cold weather, we needed that confidence in him, and he needed that confidence in himself.”
“It was really good to see him make those big field goals today.”
Confidence is something that can often come in short supply. Kickers are oft-maligned, especially at the college football level, and one miss can quickly become a series of shanked attempts and an eventual benching. That is fueled by a social media witchhunt that sees fans calling for the abolition of the position if things don’t go their way when a kicker is called upon.
There have certainly been moments like that for Jeter at Notre Dame during an injury-impacted season. In the shocking Week 2 defeat to the Northern Illinois Huskies, the Fighting Irish phenom struck out on both his field goal attempts that would have turned the tide of a 14-16 defeat at the hands of their MAC opponent.
Jeter also had misses against the Florida State Seminoles (1/2), Army Black Knights (0/2), and USC Trojans (0/1). Head coach Freeman — and the Notre Dame kicker himself — could be forgiven for lacking confidence in his clear natural ability this season for it has been a rough ride far from the expectations earned by his stellar college football career to date.
Yet, the true measure of confidence is how you perform in the biggest moments. Jeter’s time at Notre Dame (so far) has been book-ended by quality kicking when needed the most. Against Indiana in the College Football Playoff, he accounted for nine of their 27 points. He was perfect (3/3 on field goals, 2/2 on extra points) in the season-opener against the Texas A&M Aggies.
Jeter has good reason to be confident. He knows he can do it. After nailing the 49-yarder against Indiana, he yelled out, “I’m back!!!” It was an outburst of understanding, a recognition of the tribulations of a difficult season in South Bend, but a nod to the outstanding college career he pieced together with the South Carolina Gamecocks before his transfer to the Fighting Irish.
In the hard times, when your shortcomings are in the spotlight, it can be hard to break through a cloud of self-doubt, but Jeter has plenty of positive ammunition from which to draw. At South Carolina, he was widely regarded as one of college football’s top placekickers, gaining SEC experience early in his career as a true freshman kickoff specialist during the disrupted 2020 season.
In his first year as the full-time kicker for a Gamecocks’ special teams unit led by legendary coach Pete Lembo (now the head coach with the Buffalo Bulls), Jeter nailed 100% of his field goal attempts, becoming one of the two kickers in South Carolina football history not to miss a field goal attempt during a season.
“Mitch is a very focused and hard-working player,” Lembo told College Football Network. “He has high expectations for himself but also enjoys contributing to the team as a whole.”
In 2023, Jeter didn’t miss a single field goal attempt between 20 and 49 yards, converting 85.7% of his attempts and leading the Gamecocks in points scored. Meanwhile, he missed just three of 80 extra-point attempts during his South Carolina career. He nailed 100% of 48 extra point tries during his first season in South Bend, breaking 70 points scored for the second time.
The Notre Dame kicker can be consistently excellent, but he also boasts a booming leg and a cannon of a right foot. Jeter hasn’t broken 50 yards since arriving in South Bend, but that doesn’t mean he can’t. In each of his seasons as the starter in Columbus, he hit 50+ yard field goals, with a 53-yard college career-long and a 57-yarder on his Cannon High School resume.
Jeter was spotted hitting a 52-yard field goal that was described as having “plenty to spare” as Notre Dame prepares for their Sugar Bowl clash with the Georgia Bulldogs. In a game that could be much closer than some think, the Fighting Irish kicker could hold the keys to the game. After his Indiana exploits, confidence in him leading the team to victory has never been higher.
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