By R.L. Bynum
WINSTON-SALEM — Rece Verhoff walked off the field Saturday night knowing he had made history but wishing it had come in a win.
The senior place-kicker drilled four field goals, including a school-record 57-yarder as the first-half clock expired, in North Carolina’s 28–12 loss to Wake Forest.
It was a career night for Verhoff, who also tied the program record for field-goal attempts with six.
“Overall, the kicks felt good,” said Verhoff, who took the blame for one of the two kicks that got blocked. “That was on me, kicked a little low. But overall, besides that, the ball’s popping off the leg tonight, obviously, from 57, which was really nice.”
That 57-yard boot barely cleared the crossbar and as he watched the ball soar toward the goal posts, he wasn’t at all confident that it would be good.
“I’m not gonna lie, it looked like it was gonna hit the upright,” he said. “And I was like, ‘Oh no.’ And then also, I saw people holding their hands up [to signify that it was] good, because I couldn’t see it go in. But I was ecstatic, because I’ve worked a lot just to hit one of those.”
Verhoff still didn’t know for sure until he saw long snapper Spencer Triplett celebrating.
“He was in the end zone because there was a returner back, and he was holding his hands up. And I was like, ‘There’s no way.’ So, it was awesome,” Verhoff said.
The kick shattered his previous career record long of 51 yards, set last season while playing for Marshall in a game against Georgia Southern. It broke the previous record of 55 yards by Dan Orner against Syracuse in 2002.
He said he hadn’t had many attempts from 50 or more yards. Could Verhoff possibly extend his range to kick a field goal from a longer distance?
“The big thing for a kicker is ball contact,” Verhoff said. “That’s why they compare it to golf a lot. Obviously, you don’t want to slice it when you’re golfing. But the big things are ball contact and leg speed, is what I’ve noticed. But to get to those ranges is just growing as a kicker and just getting your form pure and everything.”
He added that staying fresh is critical.
“You don’t want to over-kick to where your leg’s a little dead when you need to hit those long-range kicks,” he said. “Training-wise, it’s just practice over time.”
When he walked out for the record attempt, he didn’t think about the pressure.
“For me, the mentality was just, ‘we’ve just got to hit this,’ ” Verhoff said. “I mean, it’s chances to get points on the board. [The coaches have] trust in me, which I love out of them, because I know some people who don’t get those opportunities because their coaches don’t trust them. And it’s just awesome just to have that.”
When he is attempting a kick, the thinking is pretty simple: see the ball and kick the ball and not to overthink it.
“It just kind of throws all those factors in there where you can mess up,” he said. “But, for me, I just go out there and just trust my process, and I’ve worked hard enough to get these opportunities.”
Despite his big night, the Tar Heels never reached the end zone, so that makes it hard for him to be happy about the evening.
“Obviously the team wants to get better,” Verhoff said. “Obviously it’s not the outcome we wanted. We’re gonna keep working and do what we can do, and just to prove week by week.”
The Carolina team has plenty of issues. Clearly, kicking isn’t one of them.
Photos via @UNC_Football
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