For those who were listening to the radio broadcast of the UMass v. Texas Tech matchup, we all heard that at the end of the 3rd quarter a Texas Tech student, Matt Williams, won free rent for kicking a 30 yard field goal. Williams's good fortune didn't end with the football sailing through the middle of the uprights as Captain Mike Leach invited Williams to visit with him about the possibility of trying out for the football team . . . during the middle of the game.
As Leach watched the field goal split the uprights he called Williams, a former kicker at Tarleton State, to the sideline and offered Williams to come to his office on Tuesday.
Captain Leach had this to say about the situation:
"We have a tradition of walk-on kickers rising to the top. (Robert) Treece and (Alex) Trlica both were walk-on kickers that eventually ended up getting to play significantly. We're always looking for guys. We're excited to see what he's got to offer if he's interested."Leach said he is unsure if he could comment on giving Williams an official tryout, but he hopes to run into him again.
"I don't know if I'm allowed to talk about any of that. The reason I say that is I don't know if he counts as a recruit. He's a student (here)... I hope to see him again."
Current Texas Tech kicker, freshman Donnie Carona, has struggled a bit thus far, hitting only 1 of 5 field goals, 2 field goals being blocked, and missing 2 extra points (22 of 24). Luckily for Carona, he didn't miss an extra point on Saturday.
Williams didn't attempt a field goal in 2007 for Tarleton, but there was a Paul Williams who had this stat line in 2006:
FIELD GOALS FGM-FGA Pct 01-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-99 Lg Blk
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Paul Williams 13-16 81.2 0-0 5-5 4-5 3-4 1-2 53 0
I'm not sure if Paul Williams and Matt Williams are the same guy, but those aren't bad numbers for any kicker.