College Football Countdown: 95 Days
By Matt Green
On today’s College Football Countdown, we take a look at something that is often overlooked, but regularly decides who wins and loses football games.
We’re talking about special teams. And more specifically, the kicking game.
We all look at the offense and defense when it comes to determining the outcome of football games, but we often overlook the importance of the third facet of the game. But every week there are numerous games that are decided by the kicking game. And that brings us to no. 95 in our College Football Countdown.
95
Florida’s Eddy Pineiro’s total points in 2016.
81 yarder with pads on. No excuses! Ready for the season to start🐊🏈@GatorsFB @FloridaGators pic.twitter.com/5IeZ0tXyhn
— Eddy Piñeiro (@EddyPineiro) May 2, 2017
Eddy Pineiro was a viral sensation coming out of high school when a video surfaced of him hitting a 77-yard field goal in practice. Then, earlier this month, Pineiro tweeted this video of him hitting an 81-yard field goal in practice with pads on. 81 yards!
The longest field goal in NCAA history is 67 yards, which has been done three different times.
Pineiro was 21-for-25 on field goals last season, with a long of 54 yards. He was actually 3-for-3 on field goals from 50 yards or more last season. His 95 points were fifth in the SEC among kickers in 2016. And his 84 percent was fourth in the SEC.
Florida has a not-so-secret weapon in Pineiro, and if his youtube videos are any indication, he could be in for a monster season in 2017.