Could Alex Raynor leave Kentucky as program’s best kicker after Georgia performance?

Given the way Kentucky kicker Alex Raynor’s success has flown under the radar since he arrived in Lexington, Monday’s release of the weekly Southeastern Conference awards should not have come as a surprise.

Despite converting all four of his field goal attempts, including two from more than 50 yards, against No. 1 Georgia, Raynor was passed over for SEC Special Teams Player of the Week. That honor went instead to Missouri kicker Blake Craig.

While Craig was certainly deserving with four field goals, one extra point and six kickoffs in a win over Boston College, the honor meant another opportunity to illuminate just how impressive Raynor’s work at Kentucky has been was missed.

The 4-for-4 night against Georgia made Raynor 7-for-7 on field-goal attempts this season and 17-for-18 in 16 Kentucky games. His first field goal against Georgia came from 55 yards, breaking Austin MacGinnis’s school record for longest field goal. He became just the second kicker in program history to convert at least two field goals from 50 yards or more in a game.

“He has been very steady and always had a calm demeanor and is very accurate in practice and just does his job,” UK coach Mark Stoops said.

When Raynor arrived at UK as a transfer from Georgia Southern prior to the 2023 season he was seen as a reliable option that would bring stability to a position that had been an issue throughout the previous season.

Raynor converted 18 of 20 field goals and 49 of 50 extra points in his last season at Georgia Southern, but his career long in three seasons there was just 47 yards. He was 0-for-3 from 50 yards or more before arriving at Kentucky.

The Kennesaw, Georgia, native established a career high with a 50-yard field goal during his debut season at UK but attempted just 11 field goals on the season. The low number of attempts made it easy to miss the fact that he broke UK’s single-season record for field goal percentage and entered 2024 as the program’s career leader in field goal percentage for any player with at least 10 makes.

“I am so grateful for the coaches and this staff that believe in me, and I wouldn’t be here without them,” Raynor said after the Georgia game.

When UK play-by-play man Tom Leach pointed out Raynor had missed only one field goal as a Wildcat during Stoops’ radio show Monday, UK’s coach playfully chastised Leach for potentially jinxing his kicker.

It is unlikely then anyone in the football program is going to jump at the chance to compare Raynor’s work to the program’s best kickers while his career is active, but he is developing a case to be mentioned alongside them.

Raynor is now one of just five UK kickers to convert at least four field goals in one game. Only Doug Pelfrey (1992 vs. Mississippi State) has made more in a game.

With just two seasons at Kentucky, Raynor is unlikely to crack the top five in made field goals in a UK career (Taylor Begley ranks fifth with 36), but with seven through three games this season he could have a chance to break MacGinnis’s single-season record for makes (22 in 2017).

No kicker with more than 20 field goal attempts in his UK career has left Lexington with a success rate of at least 80%, but Raynor sits at 94.4% with 18 attempts. Of course, with Raynor answering any doubts about his leg strength against Georgia, Stoops is likely to send him out for more difficult kicks moving forward, which could ding his success rate.

“My job is to go out there and do whatever they send me out to do,” Raynor said. “I feel comfortable anywhere on the field.”

Other than volume, the biggest difference between Raynor’s and MacGinnis’s resumes is success in the biggest moments.

MacGinnis converted two game-winning field goals in the final minute of games, including one in the upset of No. 11 Louisville and Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson in 2016. He hit a 51-yard game winner as time expired against Mississippi State that same season.

Raynor could have received an opportunity for a late game winner if Kentucky had not stalled near midfield with just more than 3 minutes left against Georgia. Instead, he’ll have to settle for scoring every point for Kentucky in the last two games.

Stoops said Monday he is comfortable sending Raynor onto the field up to 57 yards, but Raynor’s record for longest field goal might not even survive the season.

“I got somebody in the bullpen that I’ll throw out there at 60, 61, 62,” Stoops said, referring to freshman Jacob Kauwe. “… He can kick in four games and get a redshirt year, so if we’ve got to have 60 to win the game, he’s going out there.”

A Kauwe game-winner would only further push Raynor’s performance into the shadows, but his importance for Kentucky should not go unnoticed.

“I think he has that mentality,” special teams coordinator Jay Boulware said. “He’s really a level kid. He’s calm under pressure, and he just knocks them in. He’s been doing it his whole career.”

Next game

Ohio at Kentucky

When: 12:45 p.m. Saturday

TV: SEC Network

Records: Kentucky 1-2 (0-2 SEC), Ohio 2-1 (0-0 MAC)

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Series: Kentucky leads 4-2

Last meeting: Kentucky won 20-3 on Sept. 6, 2014, in Lexington

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