Pat McAfee

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Pat McAfee
Pat McAfee warming up before a September, 2007 game
College	West Virginia University
Conference	Big East Conference
Sport	Football and Soccer
Position	Placekicker / Forward
Class	Senior
Career	2005 – present
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	220 lb (100 kg)
Nationality	USA
Born	May 2, 1987 (1987-05-02) (age 21) Plum, Pennsylvania
High school	Plum High
Awards
2007 Lou Groza Award semi-finalist 2008 Scott Shirley Special Teams Player of the Year Award 2008 ESPN All-Bowl Team

Patrick "Pat" McAfee (born May 2, 1987 in Plum, Pennsylvania) is an American football placekicker and a former men's soccer player for the West Virginia Mountaineers. McAfee was a semi-finalist for the 2007 Lou Groza Award and was named to the ESPN All-Bowl Team following the 2008 bowl season.

1 Early life
2 Collegiate career
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Early life

McAfee was the first team all-conference selection at Plum High as a senior placekicker. McAfee was 7-7 on field goals with a long of 48 yards, and 80% of his kickoffs went for touchbacks out of the endzone. McAfee was ranked as the #1 kicker in the nation by Scout.com. He was also the 2003 National Punt, Pass, and Kick champion. His most memorable moment was on a one-on-one competition in Miami, when he won the contest with a 65-yard field goal. ^[1] He was also a three-year first team all-WPIAL soccer player as a striker and defender. He also participated in numerous Olympic Development teams in overseas action in Austria and Switzerland while in high school.

[edit] Collegiate career

[edit] Freshman season

McAfee earned the starting job at West Virginia University as a freshman, after orally committing to Kent State. McAfee came into West Virginia and met with Phil Brady, the starting punter. McAfee learned punting techniques with the 'rugby style' of punting that West Virginia used.

McAfee was 11-18 as a freshman on field goals, with longs of 40 yards, 45 yards, two 47 yard FGs, and season-long of a 49-yard field goal. McAfee had 70 kickoffs for the season, with 20 being touchbacks. In the season, 2005, the Mountaineers experienced one of the most memorable campaigns in school history. With freshmen Pat White and Steve Slaton leading the team at quarterback and running back, respectively, the team posted an 11-1 record, with a Sugar Bowl win over the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs. McAfee's most memorable moment came against University of Louisville in the 46-44 triple overtime win. But to get into overtime, the game was decided on a Pat McAfee onside kick. The onside kick gave Slaton the chance to tie the game with a 1-yard touchdown run. The onside kick, which is commonly associated with the game (along with Slaton's 6 TDs), made McAfee a state hero. ^[2]

[edit] Sophomore season

As a sophomore in 2006 McAfee and the Mountaineers had high expectations. Although they had losses to Louisville and USF, the Mountaineers pulled out a 10-win season and a Gator Bowl win over the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets. McAfee was 17-22, with a career-best 77.3 field goal percentage. He was 6-6 from 20 to 29 yards out, 8-8 from 30 to 39 yards out, and 1-1 from 50+ yards out. His long of the season was a 51-yard field goal against Pitt in the Backyard Brawl which is the longest field goal made in Heinz Field history college or pro. McAfee was also 62-62 on extra points, a career-best and a career-first (perfect on XPs). McAfee totaled 113 points for the season, which was tied for second in the NCAA. His extra points made were best in the nation, and his extra point percentage was tied for first. McAfee's field goals made were tied for eight in the nation, and his long of 51-yards was tied for seventh in the nation. McAfee also saw time as punter during the season, with Brady gone and the punting game going downhill after the Louisville loss. McAfee excelled as punting as well, averaging 44.2 yards for his 13 punting tries on the year. He has a long of 75 yards, which matches Morris Drubeck for the sixth longest punt in school history. McAfee was awarded the Scott Shirley Award by West Virginia Coach Rich Rodriguez. Recognizing the WVU special teams player of the year. ^[3]

[edit] Junior season

Pat McAfee before the Mississippi State game

Pat McAfee started his junior season, 2007, rough with a missed extra point against Western Michigan, ending his streak of 106 consecutive extra points. McAfee then missed a 22-yard field goal against Maryland, but made a 32-yard field goal that same game and the next ten Field Goals without a miss. Through the first four games of the season, McAfee was 96% on extra points, 75% on field goals (3 of 4), and a long field goal of 34 yards. Against Marshall, McAfee punted a career-high seven times for 277 yards, another career-high. In the 38-31 win over Louisville, McAfee hit a solo 28-yard field goal, but excelled in punting with six punts for 252 yards, with a 58 yard long. He also ended the game with a kickoff down to the one-yard line, after Pat White's game-winning touchdown run, to seal the victory for the Mountaineers. In the victory against #22 Cincinnati, McAfee punted three times for 147 yards, an average of 49 yards per punt with two punts going down past the 20, including a 71 yard punt from the back of the endzone. He was named Big East Special Teams Player of the Week after his performance. ^[4] McAfee finished the season in the Fiesta Bowl with a 2-4 performance, having one kick blocked by the Sooners. His 12 points moved him the third place on the all-time career school list. He also averaged 58.5 yards on four punts, with a 66-yard long, while being named to the ESPN All-Bowl Team following the bowl season.^[5]

McAfee was named to the 2007 Lou Groza Award semi-finalist list for the best collegiate kicker, being the only Big East kicker on the list. McAfee earned Big East Special Team Player of the week honors three times in 2007 (6 times in his career). Howevever, McAfee was named second-team all-Big East, but did earn West Virginia's Scott Shirley Award for the second consecutive year by former head coach Rich Rodriguez.

Pat McAfee finished the season #2 in the Big East in punting average per game, #3 in the conference in kick scoring per game, #4 in PAT kicking percentage, #6 in field goal percentage, #6 in field goals per game and #5 in scoring average per game in the conference. He also finished #3 on WVU's single-season extra points made with 64, and then #1 in the all-time career extra points made list in school history with 174, #3 on the school's career punting average with 42.7 yards, #4 on WVU’s career kick scoring chart with 297, and #4 on WVU’s career field goals made with 41. Unfortunately, McAfee came up short in his biggest collegiate game. On December 1, 2007 West Virginia had a chance to advance to the national champsionship game. All they had to do was to beat lowly Pittsburgh in Morgantown. However, McAfee missed two field goals of 20 yards and 32 yards (normally easy kicks for a good kicker) If the coach would have called a downfield pass during the game, however, the missed FG's wouldn't have been an issue & the Mountaineers certainly would have won. Even the mighty Mountaineers couldn't overcome the stubborness of Rich Rodriguez that night.

[edit] Senior season

[edit] Football

Pat McAfee has positioned himself as one of the greatest placekickers in school history, along with greats Paul Woodside, Mike Vanderjagt, and Todd Sauerbrun.^[6]

[edit] Soccer

On February 11, 2008, Pat McAfee announced he would join West Virginia's men's soccer team. Bill Stewart, the new head football coach, announced that football players would be allowed to participate in multiple sports (such as Jarrett Brown and Patrick White). Head coach of the soccer team, Marlon LeBlanc, said that he would try McAfee out at forward. “You can tell in just the first couple workouts he still has that ability he had coming out of high school and that he’s going to be able to help us. He’s a big, strong kid that just needs to catch up from a fitness, technical and tactical standpoint. But you can tell he’s got a lot of talent," LeBlanc said of McAfee. West Virginia’s spring soccer season opened February 17, with its first contest coming against the Pittsburgh River Hounds at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium on Saturday, April 5.^[7]

After two months of training for soccer, McAfee quit the team to focus on football during spring practices.^[8]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Profile on MSNSportsnet.com