Practice makes perfect for freshman already garnering all-conference honors

Nolan Hauser says he takes the same mindset out to the field as he does in practice.

Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Wednesday, October 09 2024

CLEMSON - True freshman kicker Nolan Hauser won ACC Specialist of the Week for his five-field-goal performance against Florida State in Clemson’s 29-13 win.

Hauser’s points were the difference in the game as his five field goals and two extra points, 17 points total, are what propelled the Tigers to their 16-point victory.

He knows the early success isn't something to take for granted, and he's a part of a battery to achieve that kind of success.

“It’s awesome. It’s a blessing to be in this opportunity, especially coming in as a freshman and doing it (in) week five. It’s really cool,” Hauser said. “But, definitely couldn’t do it without the whole field goal team, just having guys that are that professional like (redshirt sophomore wide receiver and holder) Clay (Swinney) and (redshirt graduate long snapper) Holden (Caspersen) really helps a lot.”

He could have had more points, but two of his field goals were blocked. The second blocked field goal came with under 30 seconds left in the third quarter. Swinney jumped on the ball to recover it, and while it was a turnover on downs, it prevented the Seminoles from getting a possible scoop-and-score. Florida State would ultimately score on that drive anyway, but they failed the two-point conversion.

“It really shows you Clay is such an athlete, just going out there and being able to see it (because) I’m looking for the ball and I’m like, ‘Where is it?’” Hauser said. “So, for him to be able to spot it like that, it really helped us (because) that could have been a huge moment in the game if that didn’t get recovered by him. But, huge hats off to him (because) he really saved us there.”

Five-field goal performances are rare. In fact, it was only the seventh time in Clemson history that had been accomplished. One might think that going out there to kick that many times could have had an effect on Hauser, especially as a true freshman, but he said he was not even aware of how much action he was getting.

“I think you don’t think about it as much. I think back at the game and I’m like, ‘I had seven field goals?’ and it goes through your mind really fast. The game goes so fast that you don’t really think about it. So, it’s really cool to be out there, especially in Tallahassee,” Hauser said. “Nothing really ever changes on the road for me. It’s the same kick. It’s the same uprights. It’s the same distance. It’s not wider …

“Going back to the pressure Coach Swinney gives us, it kind of was like, ‘Okay, this is the exact same thing I faced in practice, and I do it all the time. So, what’s changed?’”