FAYETTEVILLE — Throughout the 1970s and ’80s, Arkansas had a kicker lineage as good as any over a comparable time period in college football history.
The Razorbacks’ kickers were often in the news. Steve Little kicked a record 67-yard field goal against Texas in 1977; Ish Ordonez made 16 consecutive field goals in 1978-79, at the time an NCAA record; and Kendall Trainor made 24 consecutive field goals in 1988, one shy of the NCAA record.
Little (1976 and ‘77) and Trainor (1988) were All-America kickers for Arkansas, as were Bill McClard in 1970 and Bruce Lahay in 1981. Ordonez and Todd Wright were All-Southwest Conference kickers, part of a run of of 11 All-SWC kickers in 20 seasons from Arkansas.
But the most accurate kicker in Razorbacks’ history has never been named All-American or even all-conference. He wasn’t even on scholarship his first two seasons.
As of now, that distinction belongs to Connor Limpert, the Arkansas junior who has made 24 of 29 career attempts (82.8 percent) and made 10 consecutive field goals prior to a 60-yard miss against Vanderbilt.
The percentage is more than five points higher than Zach Hocker’s school record of 77.2 percent from 2010-13, and the consecutive makes streak was Arkansas’ longest since Wright made 10 in a row to begin the 1989 season.
Limpert’s accuracy accolades might come as a surprise given that he briefly struggled early this season. After making two field goals in Arkansas’ season-opening win over Eastern Illinois and his first two attempts the following week at Colorado State, Limpert missed three of his next four tries. The one make was a 54-yard attempt against North Texas.
He had a second miss at Colorado State that was nullified because of an offsides penalty, which extended a drive on which Arkansas eventually scored a touchdown.
A 29-yarder in the third quarter of the Auburn game began Limpert’s streak of 10 in a row. It was not noteworthy at the time, other than that it kept the Razorbacks from being shut out.
“I tend to try to forget about every miss that I have as quick as I can,” Limpert said. “For me it’s just focusing on the next kick. After that miss (at Auburn), I told myself, ‘You’re going to have to make more kicks in this game.’”
Since, Limpert has been close to automatic. And he has been instrumental for an offense that is scoring touchdowns in less than 45 percent of its red zone opportunities.
He made one field goal each against Texas A&M and Alabama. He kicked four in the rain against Ole Miss at War Memorial Stadium and three in the Homecoming shutout of Tulsa in Fayetteville.
After missing the 60-yard attempt on the final play of the first half against Vanderbilt, he came back and made a career-long 55-yard attempt on the Razorbacks' first drive of the second half. It was the program's longest field goal since Trainor made a 58-yard attempt 30 years ago.
Now Limpert is a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, given each year to the nation's most outstanding kicker. He also is a nominee for the Burlsworth Trophy, which is presented each year to college football's best player who began his career as a walk-on.
Limpert was awarded a scholarship shortly before the season began.
“As the season has gone - much like the entire football team - he has gotten better,” Arkansas coach Chad Morris said. “I think it goes back to the confidence in his snapper, his holder, the execution of the kick and the blocking up front. I think he has found where he fits and when you find your role, you really settle in.”
The field goal battery — the snapper, holder and kicker — is something that gets overlooked sometimes, but Limpert said a gelling between those three players has helped his consistency. Jack Lindsey holds for the Razorbacks and Jordan Silver is the team’s snapper.
On one attempt against Ole Miss, Lindsey — a quarterback by trade — had to stand almost upright to corral a high snap. He got back to the ground quickly and didn’t disrupt Limpert’s timing at all.
“He’s gotten incredibly better,” Limpert said. “He’s a crazy good holder now. I would have never expected him to become this good, to be honest, but he has become amazing now and I love it.”
Holding for a left-footed kicker like Limpert can be challenging, but Limpert said it has been his experience that holders generally enjoy holding for lefties more after the initial adjustment. If the holders are right-handed they are able to use their dominant hand more for lefty kickers.
Mechanically, Limpert said not much has changed for him this season. Kicking is kind of like golf: As long as you trust your swing, the kinks will usually work themselves out.
“You have to be consistent in everything you do, even the angle that your foot strikes the ball,” Limpert said. “If it’s not at the correct angle it can completely throw off the kick. You have to be really precise about it.”
Precise is a word that more and more are using to describe Limpert, who someday could be remembered fondly as another Arkansas kicking great.
A version of this story initially appeared in Hawgs Illustrated