Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – You knew this year's Orange & Blue Debut spring game was going to be different less than three minutes into the game. If you were one of those still making your way into the stadium, your first thought was probably: What did I just miss?

A long touchdown pass? An 80-yard run? All-America candidate Jalen Tabor making an interception?

Nope, try an extra-point. Normally the equivalent of watching the grass grow when it comes to football.

It was the first glimpse of much-heralded kicker Eddy Pineiro for the estimated crowd of 46,000 at The Swamp.
 

"I don't know too much about football,'' Pineiro said afterward. "I just kick the ball and it goes in."

Jim McElwain has a bit more knowledge about the game than his soccer player-turned-kicker newcomer, who thanks to a series of YouTube videos of him kicking field goals from obscene distances, developed into a folk hero in Gator Nation before joining the program.

McElwain got a chuckle out of the crowd's reaction like nearly everyone else when Pineiro booted home the PAT following Luke Del Rio's 14-yard touchdown pass to DeAndre Goolsby on the opening drive.

With no netting behind the goal posts, Pineiro's boot landed in the second deck of the south end zone.

"Most of his YouTube videos are in perfect weather,'' McElwain said. "It was good to see him have some wind in there."

Pineiro's arrival in January from ASA Community College in Miami signaled the end of the Austin Hardin era, whose struggles overshadowed his memorable 43-yard game-winner against Vanderbilt last season to clinch the Gators' first SEC East title in six seasons.

Hardin missed more kicks (20) than he made (16) during his UF career and is no longer part of the program. Pineiro is the man with the leg the Gators are counting on to end their kicking woes.

"I heard a little bit about the need for a kicker,'' said quarterback Austin Appleby, a graduate transfer from Purdue who arrived in January along with Pineiro. "It's good to see Eddy get out and kick in front of some people for the first time. We were maybe wondering about how he was going to do. It's been a whirlwind for him. He is definitely going to be a weapon."

Why the concerns for a guy who regularly blasts 60-yard-and-longer field goals on his YouTube channel?

Well, prior to Friday, he had never kicked in a game or in front of a crowd.

"I thought he answered the bell pretty darn good,'' McElwain said.

McElwain's analysis is right through the uprights.

Pineiro made all five of his extra-points in the Blue's 44-6 win, eight of his nine kickoffs were touchbacks, and what really fired up Florida fans, he made 3 of 5 field goals. While that's only 60 percent, they weren't just garden variety attempts.

"I didn't give him any chip shots by any means," McElwain said.

Pineiro made 52- and 46-yard field goals in the first half, missed a 53-yarder wide right in the third quarter, and then booted a spring game-record 56-yarder in the fourth quarter. His final attempt, a 52-yarder, missed wide right but like his other miss, had the distance.

Pineiro clearly enjoyed his Gators debut, jumping into the air and bumping holder Johnny Townsend on his first field goal. All three of Pineiro's makes were longer than any field goal the Gators hit in McElwain's first season (7 of 17, long of 43).

He calmed himself by thinking of his parents and little brother and sister.

"My family, trying to take them out of the struggle,'' he said. "I feel my comfort zone is there. [The fans] put a lot of pressure on me. But being a kicker, you have to handle pressure. In my opinion, if you want to be a great kicker, you have to be in the spotlight."
 

Pineiro clearly is.

The day he committed to the Gators rather than accept an offer from Alabama, he recorded his phone call with McElwain and posted the clip on YouTube. Since he has arrived on campus, Pineiro has added to his collection of YouTube highlights by making long field goals, at least one with his teammates trying to rattle him.

He nailed it.

Even when he missed the 53-yard attempt in the third quarter, Pineiro was eager to run back out for the 56-yard try.

"I didn't let it get to my head,'' Pineiro said. "Either I make it or miss it, I'm positive 100 percent."

That is an attribute McElwain has quickly embraced from Pineiro, who is a redshirt sophomore with three years of eligibility remaining.

"I really enjoy being around him. The team enjoys being around him,'' McElwain said. "I know this: he loves to kick."

The spring game was just the first test for Pineiro. There will be many more, including pressure situations when opponents will do all they can to distract him and block his kicks.

McElwain was as impressed with Pineiro's hang times on kickoffs Friday as his long field goals. Pineiro's positive energy has revived confidence in Florida's kicking game in his three months on campus.

"You say, where's the kick line? I don't know, cross midfield and we'll try from there,'' Del Rio said. "If he can make that, it makes our job easy on offense."

Once the soccer player-turned-kicker got his helmet and shoulder pads on correctly – no easy feat considering he is still learning – soon he was chirping in McElwain's ear.
None more than after his first miss. He relished another opportunity.

"Put me in Coach,'' he said. "I'm ready."

Yes he was.