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BYU junior kicker Will Ferrin kicks the game-winning field goal during the non-conference game against SMU at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024.

Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

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BYU junior kicker Will Ferrin attempts a field goal during the game against Southern Illinois at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024.

Marci Harris, Special to the Herald

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BYU sophomore kicker Will Ferrin kicks the game-tying field goal at the end of regulation during the Big 12 game against Oklahoma State at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU sophomore kicker Will Ferrin kicks an extra point during the game against Southern Utah at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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With just over two minutes left in last Friday’s tie game at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas, BYU junior kicker Will Ferrin and the field-goal unit trotted onto the field.

It was one of those moments that kickers dream of, a chance to give their team the lead near the end of a game.

But Ferrin had seen his only other attempt in the game — a 55-yarder at the end of the first half — drift wide. Although this kick was only 26 yards, the stakes were exponentially higher.

So what was going through his mind as he lined up for that kick?

“I don’t really know how to explain it, to be honest,” Ferrin said after practice on Tuesday. “It’s cool. It’s a big moment and you recognize that, but when you run on the field, you do the same thing every time. It’s almost like, in the moment, it just feels the same as doing it in practice or trying to recreate those moments in the offseason.

“I feel like I’ve built a really good mental routine to where I’m not out there really thinking about the moment, or thinking about the game situation, or the what happens if you make it or miss it. You go out there and just do it.”

He said he’d been talking with one of the other kickers about how it’s like shooting free throws at the end of a basketball game.

“A basketball player has his routine, bouncing the ball a certain number of times and things like that,” Ferrin said. “With us, I’m communicating with the holder who is communicating with the line and the long snapper. I mark the spot, take my steps and then the holder will wait for my nod. That routine just helps me lock in and get my mind to where it should always be.”

It might be difficult to imagine being so focused in a moment like that and Ferrin admitted he hasn’t always had that mentality.

But he learned a few years ago how important it is to not let the emotion of the moment distract him from the job that needs to be done.

“My first year kicking in high school, I was a sophomore at Davis and I was kicking for varsity,” Ferrin said. “We’re in a playoff game and we’re down by one with the minute left in the game. They put me out for a long kick and I didn’t know if I had the leg for it.”

He said the combination of pressure of the situation and his own apprehension meant that now he can see that there was “no chance” he was going to make that field goal. He said he ended up shanking it and felt terrible, feeling like he had let his team down.

“In the moment, it was like the worst thing in the world,” Ferrin said. “But that kind of pushed me towards understanding my mind which, as a kicker, is so important. It’s not about controlling things or making sure I’m not thinking about anything. It’s understanding how I operate and making sure I’m prepared for any situation that comes.”

Ferrin said that as he goes through his routine, he doesn’t always know if he made the field goal right when he kicks it but he does know if he made good contact.

“You know if you hit the ball well on contact,” Ferrin said. “You know if it’s good or bad. Of course, you can hit a ball really well and have it not go through the uprights. I felt kind of that was what I did on the long one that missed (against SMU). Or you can hit a ball really poorly and have it go through.

“Sometimes I watch the kick all the way through and others I see it up and then I’m out. I don’t really know until it is there.”

He said on the attempt that turned into the game-winning field goal all the pieces came together perfectly.

“It felt so good to see it go through,” Ferrin said.

He explained that he doesn’t usually celebrate that much after a made field goal since to him it is just him doing his job. But on that one, his normal post-kick routine got a little bit altered.

“My first instinct after it goes through is to turn and high-five my holder, Sam Van Der Haar,” Ferrin said. “I turned to high-five Sam and he was like five yards behind me, just screaming.”

He said that the entire unit celebrates on the field and then the rest of the team joins in on the sideline, but in that moment the raw excitement was certainly elevated.

“This year I’ve really come to appreciate even more so how much actually goes into bringing the ball through the uprights,” Ferrin said. “It’s much more than a one-man job.”

Kickers are only on the field for a handful of plays in every college football game but when points are on the line — particularly when the outcome is in doubt — they can make the difference between winning or losing.

It was something Ferrin and other college football fans so repeated multiple times during Saturday’s action, with game-changing kicks being made and missed in big games across the country.

“There were a lot of big kicks in college football and the NFL this weekend,” Ferrin said. “And other kickers know that feeling. We understand and appreciate so much what it takes to do our job. It’s not easy but it is so much fun when you are out there doing it.”