NOVEMBER 5, 2009 ISSUE
Vitaris Solid from Long Range
ASU Football Back Home This Saturday
ASU kicker Jason Vitaris is tied for fourth in the nation in two categories: 1.63 made field goals per game and 9.75 points per game. He has made all 39 of his extra point attempts this season. Photo by Dave Mayo/ASU Athletics
With three more long-distance field goals, ASU kicker Jason Vitaris will own a spot in the Mountaineer record book.
Vitaris, a junior from Seneca (S.C.) High School, has connected on six of seven field goals this season from 40 yards out or more.
“I don’t try to think about that too much,” Vitaris said of the pending record.
When he does connect on three more long kicks, which could happen during the 3:30 p.m. game on Saturday, November 7, when the Mountaineers host the University of Tennessee Chattanooga Mocs, he’ll pass a former NFL player.
All-American Bjorn Nittmo, who played for the New York Jets, was 8-for-13 from beyond 40 in 1987.
“[Jason] has a lot of confidence,” coach Jerry Moore said. “Once you get to a certain confidence level and then you experience success, it helps you as a player. I think he’s been able to experience some success.”
Vitaris is tied for first in the Southern Conference with 13 made field goals. Early in the season, though, he was struggling.
While he would nail long kicks, he’d miss shorter ones.
“Coach never told it to me, but there was a lot of pressure for me to start making field goals,” Vitaris said. “Our offense was struggling a little in the red zone and they needed me to come through with some points. I’ve recovered from that now, but there was pressure on me early on.”
No more pressure, though, than when he kicked a game winner in overtime against The Citadel. That 29-yarder was only the second game-winning field goal in overtime in Mountaineer history.
That pressure lifted, however, when Vitaris began thinking of game situations more like practice and trying to relax more.
“I’m one of those guys who likes to put pressure on himself for no reason sometimes,” he said. “I try to look at it as a practice situation because I’ve been kicking well in practice.”
“We tend to judge kickers by how far they kick the ball,” said Moore, “and we’re more interested in how accurate he is or we wouldn’t kick a 40-yard field goal because we’d lose a lot of field position right there.”
Vitaris was an all-star football and soccer player in high school and has focused on football in college. He kicked off last season but is simply doing field goals and extra points now.
He is the only Southern Conference kicker without a miss on an extra point.
He currently leads the Mountaineers in scoring with 78 points, compared to quarterback Armanti Edwards’ 72.
“I’m trying to be the team leader in points, but it’s hard with Armanti scoring every time he touches the ball,” Vitaris said. “So I have to get all the points I can on field goal attempts.”
Mountaineers Can’t Overlook UTC
Chattanooga at ASU: Watch and Listen
If you can’t make it to the game on Saturday, November 7, you still have several options for viewing or listening to the Mountaineers take on the University of Tennessee Chattanooga Mocs at 3:30 p.m.
Radio: WKBC 97.3 FM, WATA 1450 AM
Audio/Video: www.GoASU.com
TV: Replays on MTN 18 at 8:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
The Mountaineers will face a different UTC team on Saturday at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
The Mocs finished last season 1-11 and didn’t win a conference game. This season marks only the third time this decade that UTC has won at least five games.
Former Richmond assistant Russ Huesman took over as head coach this season, and the change is obvious.
“Their whole demeanor has changed, or they wouldn’t be 5-3 right now,” Moore said. “Their whole football team has changed. They aren’t Richmond and I don’t think anyone expected them to be like Richmond this year, but they’re on track to being like that.”
The Mocs are fifth in scoring offense and third in defense in the Southern Conference.
Quarterback B.J. Coleman has thrown for more than 1,300 yards and 13 scores and his favorite target is Blue Cooper, who is second in the conference with 60 receptions.
With a possible Southern Conference championship showdown looming with Elon on Saturday, November 14, it would be easy for the Mountaineers to look ahead.
Moore, though, said that can’t be done.
“We’ve got our hands full with Chattanooga,” Moore said. “Elon is there and everyone knows it, but we certainly haven’t been talking about Elon. You look at what’s happened at Chattanooga and it doesn’t take long to get Elon out of your mind.”
Edwards Honored…Again
Quarterback Armanti Edwards’ six-touchdown performance against Furman on October 31 earned him multiple player of the week honors.
Edwards was named The Sports Network and College Sporting News National Offensive Player of the Week and the Southern Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week.
He threw for 355 yards and ran for 106 yards. Those passing yards helped him become the first NCAA Division I history (FCS or FBS) to amass 9,000 passing yards and 4,000 rushing yards in a career.
He had two touchdown passes and four scoring runs in the Apps’ 52-27 win at Furman.
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