Iowa Coordinator Opens Up On Missed Field Goals

Iowa Hawkeyes place kicker Drew Stevens has one of the most pressurized jobs in all of sport. When it matters most, someone who has remained cold all game has to warm up to lead his team to victory. Of course, that is also what Stevens signed up for.

The Iowa kicker has totaled 12 field goals this season, converting nine of them; the three missed have come in Stevens’ last three appearances. The biggest field goal Stevens has taken on this year came in last Saturday’s 20-15 loss to the No.8 Indiana Hoosiers, when Stevens was handed the keys to a 16-13 lead against the Hoosiers with 2:05 remaining.

Yet Stevens hooked his field goal left, and ultimately, Indiana went on a game-winning five-play 76-yard drive to seal their fifth win on the season.

“First off, it's a unit, so it's not just one person. Drew is the kicker, so everyone looks at him. It's sort of like the quarterback. Everyone looks at the quarterback. Did he make the pass? Did he not make the pass?” Quoted Iowa Special Teams coordinator LeVar Woods.

“But there's ten other guys out there. There's ten other things, ten other layers that go into that in regards to any play in football, particularly in field goal.

“I've seen Drew make plenty of kicks that have gone through the uprights. That's another thing we saw. We saw a career-long field goal from Drew in Week 1.”

Levar Stevens opens up on Drew Stevens' kicks — Iowa special teams coordinator LeVar Woods, left, talks with Iowa placekicker Drew Stevens before a NCAA football game against Nevada, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. 220917 Nevada Iowa Fb 013 Jpg | Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK

Stevens notched a career-long of 55 yards against UAlbany in the Hawkeyes’ 34-7 win over the Great Danes.

“We see it every day here in practice, right? We see him every day. Look at this kick. It's unbelievable. Also, over the course of his career, he's gone on and has made big kicks for this football team. Just didn't get it done in the most recent game, but that to me is a one-off. That's not Drew Stevens. That's not the guy I know, a guy that I've watched work and grow over the last four years.”

Stevens’ other missed kicks came in during a PAT in a blowout 47-7 win over UMass. The second came in Iowa’s most recent 38-28 win over Rutgers, when Stevens’ 40-yard field goal could not find between the posts.

Last season, Stevens missed a total of three field goals all season, while finishing with a clean 100 points on 20-23 kicking.

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