Punter U is back for Kentucky with Aidan Laros -- while 'bringing (Jacob Kauwe) along' at kicker

“Kentucky has a heck of a punter, I know that.”

Those comments came from Steve Spurrier following South Carolina’s 54-3 win over Kentucky in 2011, the Gamecocks holding the Wildcats to just 96 total yards.

Times have changed for the better, fortunately, those moments leading to the winningest coach in program history coming to Lexington in Mark Stoops. He’s had some good punters over the years, none better than the Ray Guy Award winner in 2019, Max Duffy. And they haven’t been the butt of losing jokes, but rather key pieces in big-time victories.

The latest is Preseason All-SEC Third Team member Aidan Laros, who transferred to Kentucky in 2024 after earning consensus FCS All-America honors in 2023. He didn’t immediately earn the starting job — Wilson Berry got the nod to open the year before the former UT Martin standout took over for the final nine games of the season — but he comfortably owns it now and did nothing to give it up in week one.

Laros finished the day with five punts for 219 yards (43.8 YPA) and four downed inside the 20-yard-line with three inside the 10 for an average Toledo start position of the 8-yard-line. He also averaged 66.0 yards on six kickoffs, highlighted by one going 71 yards coming off the second-quarter safety, down to the nine and returned to the 23.

Point being, he dominated essentially every time his foot touched the ball — and he added a tackle in the fourth quarter, for good measure.

“Aidan — the kickoffs he had are strong. The kick, the play after the safety was huge. We got them inside the 25. If we’re in a normal spot to kick it out of the end zone, that’s on the 25, so we actually gained two yards there, which was impressive after the safety,” Stoops said during his call-in radio show on Monday. “The punting was extremely important to us. He’s a very, very good player. I thought we were solid all the way around.”

The South African punter called his shot before the season coming off the delayed start to his Kentucky career in 2024. Once he earned the coaches’ trust, he wasn’t going to let it go.

“I kept working and made my way onto the field, and I knew once I got onto the field, I’d do what I came to do,” he told KSR in the preseason. “I’ve got a big year coming up this year. We’ve got a great team, and (I’m) super excited to show America what we’ve got and I’ve got to prove.”

Total confidence there, certainly after game one. Where do things stand with the other part of the foot-to-ball aspect of special teams? Stoops is still monitoring that situation with redshirt freshman Jacob Kauwe.

“Kauwe, he hit the one field goal he had and the extra points. We’re just bringing him along,” he said.

Those comments come just a week after Stoops said he had ‘a couple (kickers) we’re looking at’ — Sacramento State transfer Zach Schreiner being the other. Kauwe is the big-leg talent who once went viral for booting an absurd 75-yarder back home in Montana and regularly drilled 60-yarders in practice for the Wildcats. The issue?

“We’re still looking to have the consistency that we need there, but he has a big leg and I think he has great upside.”

He made the most of his debut with a make from 45 in his lone attempt while also hitting all three extra point attempts. There were a few opportunities for Stoops to send Kauwe out for deeper looks, but he instead opted to play the field position game with the sure thing in Laros.

In fact, there was no choice to be made, in his mind. Starting Kauwe’s career with multiple next-level deep attempts would do nothing but potentially hurt his confidence and the defense, who had already been playing exceptionally well. Though he trusts the young talent to hit kicks with serious distance, those are more for break-in-case-of-emergency situations at the end of halves and regulation.

Ideally, his normal attempts will come from normal distances. And that’s where he has to find real consistency.

“I could’ve (done it), but that would’ve been stupid. At that point in the game, we had been playing really good,” Stoops said. “When I say he has range, it’s like when the commentators are asking me on TV before the game, ‘What is your spot? What are you comfortable with?’ When you say that, you’re saying with the game on the line. That doesn’t mean that you’re going to do that (all the time).

“I mean, I’m not going to let the kid kick his first field goal from 58 yards or 57 yards? The way we’re playing defense, why give them that field position? We punted it and pinned him on the seven. The next one would have been 60-plus. I mean, that’s just stupid.”

Both players are weapons and he plans on using both — but safely. You saw those safe plays against Toledo.

“That was important for us, the way we were playing. Field position was super important,” Stoops continued. “… I certainly don’t second-guess myself about kicking a 57-yard field goal.”