TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo sometimes roots against the Seminoles’ offense.
The thoughts aren’t selfish, just part of a mindset that has him poised to become the most accomplished kickers in school history and one of the best ever in college football.
“Every kicker that’s recruited has the leg, has the power,” Aguayo said. “It’s all between the ears.
“When it’s third-and-5, I want Jameis (Winston) to get sacked to get the opportunity. You’ve got to want it. Although you want the team to score … that’s the mindset you’ve got to have.”
As a redshirt freshman, Aguayo became the third Florida State player to win the Lou Groza award that is given to the best kicker in the country. He connected on 21 of 22 field goal attempts in 2013 and is 6 for 6 in two games for the top-ranked Seminoles.
Aguayo’s 96.4 field goal percentage would be the best in college history if he had the minimum 30 attempts, according to STATS LLC,
Aguayo is a self-described perfectionist that gets the same speech from coach Jimbo Fisher has given to Florida State’s Heisman -winning quarterback: Don’t get bored. Both had unprecedented success as freshmen as success came quickly. Fisher doesn’t want either to grow complacent.
Aguayo isn’t worried.
He tweaked with his mechanics on field goals during the spring to more closely resemble the majority of NFL kickers. It was an attempt to hit the ball cleaner and more pure every single time. Suddenly, the ball began floating left and right. The experiment ended then.
“I went back to what I do,” Aguayo said. “It’s working for me, why change if it ain’t broke.
“Every kicker’s different. I might look different, but at the end of the day as long as it goes between the two pipes, no one really cares how you get it in there.”
Fisher said Aguayo has a “supreme confidence” and developed mentally as a freshman behind Dustin Hopkins, the FSU career leader with 88 field goals. The Seminoles set an FBS record for points scored in 2013 and Aguayo set the NCAA single-season record for kickers with 157 of those points.
Fisher acknowledged the luxury.
“You know when you get certain distance, down where his comfort range is … it does sometimes let you be more aggressive and take chances,” Fisher said, “and not have to make sure, hey, I’ve (got to) make sure I get (inside) field goal range. When that range is expanded, it does help you offensively, no doubt.”
Aguayo was a Florida State fan before he stepped on campus, so he knew the history of FSU kickers – — the good and bad. Sebastian Janikowski is the only two-time winner of the Groza award (1998-99). Graham Gano won it in 2008. Missed field goals against Miami in 1991, 1992 and 2000 may have cost the school additional titles.
Aguayo also knows Tulane’s Cairo Santos was a perfect 21 for 21 on field goals in 2012. Previously, North Carolina State’s Marc Primanti was 20 for 20 in 1996.
“It’s possible,” Aguayo said of perfection. “If he can do it, why can’t I do it? … That’s my job. I’m supposed to be 6 for 6. That’s how I look at it.”
The record do “run through my mind, occasionally,” He said. “It’s in the back of my head, but I don’t really think about that. … If it happens, it happens.”
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