How two missed field goals are shaping Jayden Fielding's Ohio State legacy

Ohio State kicker Jayden Fielding has put together a statistically strong career. He’s made 80.4% of his field goals over three seasons and has missed just one extra point. But two kicks continue to shape the perception around him — and they raise a fair question: how much do consistency and overall stats matter when you don’t do your job in the biggest moments?

For Fielding, only two misses have directly swung the outcome of a game: the 13–10 loss to Michigan in 2024 and last week’s 13–10 loss to Indiana in the Big Ten Championship. Those are the moments fans cling to. Those are the moments people point to when labeling a kicker “not clutch.”

But the picture is more complicated. Fielding has performed in high-pressure environments. Last year, he was perfect in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal, the Cotton Bowl semifinal, and the National Championship — some of the biggest stages a college kicker can step into. He can perform with everything on the line. But those games didn’t come down to just three points.

And when the game comes down to a single kick, the margin for error tightens and the pressure becomes suffocating.

Ryan Day didn’t sugarcoat anything when asked about Fielding’s miss after the Big Ten Championship.

“There’s a reason why we put him in there,” Day said. “We’re not putting guys in the game that we don’t believe in. So once we put you in the game, we believe that you’re gonna do your job, and it’s your job to make sure that gets done. So just like everybody else, he’s gotta take a hard look at it and make sure that everything that he’s doing is on point.”

Neat party trick from Ohio State kicker Jayden Fielding: Hitting the upright on purpose pic.twitter.com/ccM2Uv5H5i
— Andy Anders (@AndyAnders55) December 6, 2025

And that’s the truth — Day still believes in him. His teammates are fully backing him and not casting blame his way. Fielding was even filmed before the Big Ten Championship hitting the upright on purpose and laughing.

The accuracy is there. The talent is there. The question is whether he can steady himself when the moment is heaviest — and there may be heavy moments ahead on Ohio State’s playoff run.

So the question becomes, should Fielding continue through the playoffs? And the answer is yes.

He’s the only kicker on the roster with meaningful experience, and Ohio State isn’t suddenly going to pull trust from a player who has delivered far more often than not. Games shouldn’t come down to one kick — but if they do, the expectation remains the same: do your job.