How Public Mistake Helped Conor Talty Turn New Leaf

LOS ANGELES–– Conor Talty was feeling pretty low. He missed a kick at the end of the half against Oklahoma and had a public meltdown when he yelled at his long snapper for a high snap on the kick. The next week, he was booed by his own fans at home after missing a 28-yard field goal against Eastern Illinois.

Talty doesn't normally get on social media anyway, but he does go on YouTube to watch videos. Even YouTube wasn't a safe space for him to be after missing those kicks. He said it was tough on him mentally.

"My mistake was, I made it public, and I’m ashamed of that," Talty said speaking to the media Tuesday at Rose Bowl media day. "That’s something that obviously I should not do on a national stage like that. No matter how frustrated I am, at least wait until the locker room or let a coach handle it. And the coaches do handle it."

Talty's teammates and coaches rallied around him. Deontae Lawson came up to him at midfield after the Oklahoma miss, and defensive lineman James Smith encouraged him in the locker room at halftime. In the Eastern Illinois game, Ryan Williams, Ty Simpson and Kalen DeBoer showed him support.

"You can’t point out a single guy on this team that hasn’t gone through a moment, maybe not like mine, but some type of adversity," Talty said. "So they understand it. When I faced adversity, they came to my side, and they were there to support me. That support went a long way for me because it really helped me turn this leaf and start producing on the field.”

Since the miss against Eastern Illinois, Talty is a perfect 4 for 4 on field goals and 11-of-11 on extra points. Those four field goal makes all came in critical moments in the Iron Bowl and the first round of the playoff at Oklahoma. Talty said he knew there was no margin from error going from EIU to Auburn.

"Of course it fueled me the whole week of practice," Talty said. "I wouldn’t say it was revenge on the fanbase and all the haters, but it was more so like: here I am. I missed a kick in each of the last two games, and we have Auburn to clinch the SEC Championship, and then Oklahoma, first round of the playoffs— obviously big games.

"It wasn’t about, I gotta get revenge on these people that say I suck. It’s like, I gotta produce for this team, this team that supports me so hard. I gotta produce for them. I gotta help this team win. That’s where my mind was at. And going out for that kick against Auburn and Oklahoma, there was no fear because I know my ability. I’m here for a reason."

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