AUBURN | Alex McPherson missed his first field goal attempt for Auburn. He hasn’t missed since.
The redshirt freshman made two more in the Tigers 48-10 win at Arkansas to give him a program-record 17 consecutive made field goals.
“Being able to go out there and trust the operation every time you walk out makes it easy to do your job, whenever you feel like the others around you are gonna do theirs,” said McPherson. “That's really our mojo right now, being able to protect, snap, hold and allow me to kick the ball. It feels great.”
McPherson stepped in for an injured Anders Carlson as a true freshman last season in one of AU’s biggest games of the season. He missed a 54-yarders but bounced back to make the next two including a 26-yarder in the fourth quarter that provided the difference in a 13-10 win over Texas A&M.
He made two apiece in games against Western Kentucky and Alabama but was still able to redshirt with just three games played in 2022. This fall, McPherson has made all 11 of his attempts including a 53-yarder against Texas A&M and a 49-yarder against Mississippi State.
His record-breaker came on a 31-yarder to close out a dominating first half against the Razorbacks.
“It’s the first time in may career — probably since I’ve been here — I haven’t had to worry about the field goal kicking situation,” AU special teams coordinator Tanner Burns told the Auburn Network. “I was blessed to walk into a good situation. He’s a confident kid. He does it all week in practice. He knows what he’s doing and he don’t flinch, for sure.”
Auburn has had a long line of successful kickers stretching back for decades. McPherson followed Anders Carlson, who followed his older brother, Daniel Carlson. Both are currently in the NFL.
It was a trip to an Auburn kicking camp in 2017 where McPherson got a picture with Daniel that played a big part in McPherson ultimately choosing the Tigers.
“That was whenever I realized I wanted to come to Auburn, that kicking camp,” said McPherson. “I won the camp, and we toured the stadium and the facilities, and I just loved it. Ever since then, I've really wanted to come here. It's where it jump-started, honestly.”
The win at Arkansas was another strong performance by Auburn’s special teams. Another highlight was Keionte Scott’s 74-yard punt return for a touchdown, AU’s first since Quan Bray’s 76-yard return against Louisiana Tech in 2014 and the first against an SEC opponent since Chris Davis’ 85-yard return at Tennessee in 2013.
“It's awesome. It comes down to our special teams coordinator, Coach Burns,” said McPherson. “I think all year, he's kept it consistent and kept the guys motivated, even when we haven't had the breaks go our way on punts and whatnot. Getting that punt return was really huge for the momentum for our special teams. It was really exciting.”
Auburn returns to action Saturday afternoon against New Mexico State. Kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium next Saturday is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
