As Cam Little Returns For NFL Draft Prep, Razorback Kicking Remains Work in Progress
Arkansas fans will need some adjusting after losing most accurate kicker in program history a year early
Credit: blake.ford23/Instagram Stories
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — While Arkansas was in the middle of its annual Red-White game, there was other football action on the hill. Former Razorback kicker Cam Little, the most accurate kicker in program history, returned to Arkansas to prepare for the NFL Draft.
While Little was bombing kicks through the uprights with fellow 2023 kicker Blake Ford, who appeared in three games before transferring to North Texas in the offseason, the fans who were at the spring game were dealing with a much different kicking situation.
Special Teams Coach Scott Fountain has to figure out how to move on from Little in the kicking game. Matthew Shipley and Vito Calvaruso both had less-than-ideal showcases to the fans and the coaches in the annual Red-White Scrimmage. Both Shipley and Calvaruso went 2-for-4. Shipley was good from 33 and 40 yards and missed from 45 and another from 40 yards. Calvaruso made his field goals from 33 and 45 and missed both from 40 yards out.
After three years of working with the same person (Little), there is no doubt an adjustment period to refine the operation. Punter Max Fletcher returns as the first-team holder. Eli Stein is slated to be the first-team snapper. Both have to be up to speed with the kicker's quirks before the operation succeeds. Coach Sam Pittman remained upbeat about the state of his team's kicking.
"They have the capabilities," Pittman said about his kickers. "I haven’t lost any trust or anything like that in them because I’ve seen them do it many a time. We’ve got to continue to get them in here and make sure they make them inside the stadium because that’s where it’s going to count."
A transfer from Hawaii, Shipley came into the spring as the presumed starter. A reigning Lou Groza Semifinalist, Shipley went 14-for-18 in 2023 with a long of 51 yards.
Kicking has been a non-issue over the past 3 years, as the old guard moves on to the next level, the new guard is still a work in progress.
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