During UConn’s 2-10 campaign in 2014, special teams were, well … nothing that special.
The kick return game had glimpses of hope with senior Deshon Foxx and freshman Arkeel Newsome showing off their play-making skills, but that’s as much as the special teams unit has to celebrate for.
Kicker Bobby Puyol connected on nine out of 14 field goal attempts and hit 19-of-22 extra point conversions.
Enter Michael Tarbutt.
The Canisius High School kicker helped lead his team to a 12-0 record while breaking his league’s longest field goal record not once, but twice.
Tarbutt committed to UConn in early October and has since been impressing many locally, and now has gotten national recognition too.
The 5-foot-11 kicker from Buffalo was selected to USA Today’s second team highlighting the best high school players across the country.
Take a look at some of the other schools the first and second team players are committed to.
Florida State. Alabama. Texas A&M. Zero other AAC teams. The list goes on.
Even if it’s for the lone kicker position, UConn is in good company with the other schools on the list. The first team kicker is undecided, but his choices are probably level with the schools mentioned before.
Tarbutt made 11 of his 17 field goal attempts and also converted a school-record 49 extra points. However, it’s not the number of field goals he’s made or missed that earned him All-USA second team honors, it’s the distance he can kick from.
Tarbutt’s 52-yarder was the school and league-record for longest kick, until he nailed a 60-yarder during his school’s state championship game.
The kid has a boot.
It’s quite alright to be excited about that fact, despite being months away from spring camp and the possibility of a redshirt.
With Puyol heading into his junior year, it would be smart to redshirt Tarbutt, but if Puyol finds himself struggling with lengthy kicks, the freshman could be an instant boost to how UConn views field position.
For what it’s worth, Puyol’s career long is 45-yards. I don’t feel the need for a competition in training camp if Tarbutt doesn’t redshirt, but a full season on the sidelines will likely be the outcome to get fully adjusted to the next level.
There’s only so many adjectives that can describe Tarbutt’s leg strength, but it sure is a game-changing momentum-shifting type of prospect for UConn. He’ll have quite the nickname once he nails his first long one.
Tar-Boot anyone?
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