Ohio State has been dealing with the fallout from losing to Texas on Saturday night. It was a game that saw them blow a 20-point fourth-quarter lead. Ryan Day has been getting crushed for the loss, as he should. Kicker Connor Hawkins has been getting dragged, as well.
Hawkins missed a 45-yard field goal with just over four minutes left to go in the game that would have given the Buckeyes a two-score lead. Despite the miss, Day has reiterated his confidence in Hawkins. Yet that highlights a bigger issue with Ohio State and kickers.
Ryan Day's confidence in Connor Hawkins is unbroken despite the miss against Texas
Day is still confident in Hawkins' ability, and he spoke about that to the media after joking about the fact that he still trusts the special teams after running off when that question was asked earlier in the week.
"We're confident in Connor. I don't think we can group Connor into anything that's happened in the past. That's not Connor's issue. With that being said, we count on him to make that kick. He's beaten himself up over that kick. But also on offense, we have to put him in a better situation where it's not a 45-yarder. We get a couple first downs, you gain more yardage, you increase the chances of kicking a field goal. We all take accountability. We believe what we see in practice, and we count on him to make those kicks. We believe he will make those kicks moving forward."
It's all good that Day believes Hawkins will make those kicks, but this is a big issue with how Day has built the team in the past. He has not prioritized special teams, as he hasn't been able to get a reliable kicker or punter. Hawkins transferred in. He wasn't a recruit that Day was confident in.
Connor Hawkins has given the worst possible first impression to Ohio State fans
As Day referenced, the Buckeyes have had a horrible track record with kickers. Ohio State has not been able to find a kicker who can come up big when they need him to. That's the whole reason they went after Hawkins. They thought he could be that guy.
Instead, he made the worst possible first impression. He didn't have any field goal attempts in Week 1 against Ball State. Perhaps that rattled him. While he did make three field goals against the Longhorns, including a 48-yarder, he didn't make the one that mattered the most.
Day's refusal to take special teams seriously has cost his team dearly in the last few years. They had a chance to play for a national title in 2022 if they made a kick as the clock struck midnight. Jayden Fielding missed two kicks against Michigan in 2024 to lose that game. He also missed a game-tying 29-yarder in the Big Ten Championship last year.
The kicking game has been the big Achilles' heel of this program in the Ryan Day era. While Day has faith in Hawkins to make big kicks later in the year, fans won't believe it until they see it. It's hard to blame them.
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