Kentucky football: Wildcat fans get their kicks watching pigskin fly

Not so long ago Kentucky football fans would agonize every time one of their kickers trotted onto the field praying not to witness a shank or wide right or left end result. But now the placing kicking is money and the punting is oh so entertaining.

While Max Duffy put the fun in punting as the Aussi from Down Under brought fans to their feet even though Kentucky was giving the ball up. The rugby-style kicker was the best offense many times and Duffy could be counted on to drop nearly every punt inside the 15-yard line.

That decisive advantage left the UK defense salivating with teams having their backs to the goal line. Alas, Duffy has moved on with aspirations of playing in the NFL and has been invited to the NFL Combine.

Ruffolo drills them straight, while Berry hopes to keep them booming

When they needed extra points it’s been steady sailing for the most part as Austin MacGinnis, mister automatic, paved the way for Matt Ruffolo. On track to graduate this May with a degree in finance Ruffalo has been money for the Wildcats. If he isn’t kicking footballs he wants to be the Chief Financial Officer of a company one day.

He is no stranger to seeing his name on the UK Dean’s List and SEC All-Academic Honor Roll and that success has carried onto Kroger Field as well.

He has decided to return for another year and that is welcome news keeping stability at this spot.

Ruffolo is kind of under the radar and his success may be overlooked by Wildcat fans.

He waited his first two years to see the field behind McGinnis but as a junior, he was 4 of 5 on field goals and 18 of 20 on extra points after taking over from Chance Poore. The highlight was a career-long 50-yard field goal in Kentucky’s 24-20 win over Arkansas,

Matt Ruffolo 50-yarder

"Matt Ruffolo answers the call!"Ruffolo, ΔE '21, makes a 50-yard field goal against Arkansas.The Wildcats beat the Razorbacks 24-20.

Posted by University of Kentucky Delta Tau Delta Alumni on Sunday, October 13, 2019

This past year he was dead on nailing 22-of-23 extra points and 12-of-14 field-goals. He capped off the year by setting a UK bowl record with three field goals, from 25, 26, and 20 yards in the win over NC State in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.

Out of Centerville, Ohio, he made all of his kicks in the win over South Carolina, including field goals of 22 and 41 yards, along with all five extra points. He equaled his 50-yard best at Missouri and recorded 10 points in Kentucky’s 34-7 win at No. 18/17-ranked Tennessee.

The one game that will haunt him was against Ole Miss where Kentucky lost 42-41. He missed a 49-yard field goal as well and was five of six on PATs. Of course, he isn’t all to blame as Asim Rose is best known for giving up a touchdown run early and failing to score being tackled inside the 10-yard line.

Poore has become the kickoff man for the Wildcats after giving way to Ruffalo and handled all of the duties well last season. He kicked off 50 times in 2020 averaging 59.5 yards a kick with 27 touchbacks.

Poore could back up Ruffolo if need be and they have sophomore Graham Wald out of Henry Clay who has yet to see any game action. Colin Goodfellow is the holder taking the snaps from Cade Degraw.

They come from the Land Down Under and thankfully so

Big Blue Nation fell in love with Duffy and rightfully so as the Aussie had no idea how the American football game was played until arriving in Lexington. But he pinned so many defenses deep that we clamored for him just to get on the field.

In his final year, he reached out to his fellow countryman Wilson Berry from Melbourne and persuaded him to follow in his footsteps and make Lexington home for the next four years. They both come from a program called Pro Kick Australia and are providing quite the pipeline.

Will he take over the duties or will it be senior Colin Goodfellow who saw action in two games last year while Duffy was hurt.

Kicking against Vanderbilt and Alabama, Goodfellow a senior he totaled 10 punts for 477 yards with a 47.7 yards per punt average with his longest career-long 55-yarder. He has also been on the Dean’s List every year.

Berry won’t have too tough of a time settling in as big brother Jordan Berry who played for Eastern Kentucky and now the Pittsburgh Steelers still calls Lexington home in the US. He loves to read so learning about the Bluegrass State and Kentucky Legends should be his list – especially since says he doesn’t have a television.

https://twitter.com/UKFootball/status/1371084195229966341

Watching him sail rugby balls is just as electrifying and mystifying as Duffy and Jordan. If you ever have the chance to watch it you may not understand all the rules straight away but you have to love the toughness and finesse for the way these guys play the game.

Counting on these special team players is pivotal for Kentucky’s success. It’s been a while since we have had to endure points left on the field or punts returned for big chunks of yardage.

The theme of consistent and dynamic from both kicking games are just what this team brings and that is just fine with us in My Old Kentucky Home.