From the Right Side
All ended well for kicker Jason Vitaris, who nailed a 29-yard field in overtime Saturday to lift Appalachian State to a 30-27 victory over The Citadel.
But until Vitaris made good on attempts of 30 and 29 yards in the late stages of that game, he was subject of a strange statistical line.
After missing a 25-yard attempt in the second quarter, Vitaris was just 1 of 4 on attempts of less than 40 yards this season. After he made a 44-yarder in the third quarter, he improved to a perfect 3 for 3 in tries beyond 40 yards.
Vitaris said that it has to do more with geography than distance. He said that he is struggling to make short-range kicks from the right side of the field.
“I’ve still got a lot of work to do,” said Vitaris, a junior from Seneca, S.C. “I know I’ve got the leg for the long ones, it’s more about accuracy. From longer range, it’s more straight on. Short range, I’ve got to whip it a little bit from the right side. I’m hitting it solid, it’s just going straight.”
Vitaris said that he’s confident from straight on and left of center, it’s just that kicks closer to the right hash mark seem to be a tougher angle for him.
“I’ll work with the holder a little bit, maybe getting him to lean it a little bit because that kind of gives it a little natural hook on it,” he said. “But we’ll work a lot more on it in practice this week and get better on it.”
The pressure of kicks with a game on the line, as was the case Saturday, isn’t a problem.
“I’m a coach’s son, so I dealt with a lot of pressure growing up,” Vitaris said. “People would tell me I was just on the team because I was his son. I had to prove a lot of people wrong so that helped me deal with pressure.”