North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Hauschka's (Almost) Perfect Season
11/5/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
BY TIM PEELER
But that first-quarter miscue Saturday didn’t prevent the transfer from tiny
His kicking record may not be unblemished any longer, but it’s hard to imagine how this story-book fall could have been any better for the former soccer-player-turned-place kicker from
He made the first 10 field goals of the season, is a perfect 20-for-20 on extra points and has boomed 12 kickoffs into the end zone despite a new NCAA rule that moved kickers back five yards to reduce the number of touchbacks this season. Even after missing his first field-goal attempt against the Hurricanes Saturday, he made four more in the game, including the one in overtime that gave the Wolfpack its third consecutive victory after a 1-5 start.
He leads the ACC in field-goal accuracy and is tied for third in field goals made and second in touchbacks through nine games this year.
To make things even better, he celebrated the Red Sox second World Series Championship in four years, and his beloved New England Patriots are still undefeated.
Now, if only Tuesday goes well. That’s when Hauschka, who graduated from
Hauschka has long known that he wants to be a dentist, just like his mother, Barbara, and his older brother, Andy, who is part of a dental practice in
By now, Hauschka’s path to NC State is familiar to Wolfpack fans. The former soccer player never played a down of youth league, middle school or high school football growing up on the outskirts of
His roommate, a safety on Middlebury’s football team, cajoled Hauschka into filling in the team’s need for a placekicker and punter, and he made the team in the spring of his freshman year. After working out with kicking instructor Steve Wolf of
The Eagles had already turned one student’s dream into a fairy-tale story last year, then-BC coach Tom O'Brien transformed Steve Aponavicius from a face-painted fan in the stands at Eagle games into a capable kicker for a team that won yet another bowl game.
Hauschka knew he could take advantage of a now-repealed NCAA rule that allowed student-athletes who graduate in four years to transfer to any NCAA school that does not offer graduate studies in his or her chosen field. He filled out all the necessary paper work, and stayed in touch with Petercuskie after most of the
That was apparent one recent afternoon when he wore a light blue fraternity T-shirt to an interview at the
Hauschka won the Wolfpack’s wide-open starting job in August, thanks to his accuracy and the distance of his kickoffs, and has been living a dream ever since.
“The reason I did this was so that I wouldn’t regret not pursuing it 40 years from now,” Hauschka said. “I didn’t want to regret having a chance to play on the Division I level and never pursuing it. I felt that I owed it to myself to pursue it.
“It’s really turned out to be the coolest thing I have ever done in my life.”
Hauschka’s story might be unusual in modern college football, but it’s not even unique in his own family.
His father played varsity soccer for four years at
Before he ever joined the team in training camp, however, he was traded to the Chicago Bears, something he was unaware of until after the Bears signed another kicker. So his professional kicking career ended before it ever really got started.
Steven Hauschka now has aspirations of earning his own professional contract, thanks to his success at Middlebury and the attention he has received at NC State this season. It’s particularly satisfying that for the skinny but powerful kicker who obviously has an extremely bright future after he hangs up his kicking shoes that he has earned this shot with hours of extra work and dedication.
“You can buy a Lamborghini and drive 250 miles an hour on the highway,” said Hauschka. “But you can’t buy a position on a college football team and you can’t buy success on the field.
“So this means a lot more to me than money ever will.”
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
