South Carolina focused on putting 'best guy out there' in ongoing kicker battle

There will likely come a time — or perhaps multiple times — throughout the season where South Carolina will need to make an important kick. It almost feels inevitable.

But the question for the Gamecocks is who will be lining up to kick when the game is on the line. That’s something still unknown as they’re now five practices into fall camp. And with the season only 25 days away, an answer will eventually come as to who their starting kicker will be.

The names involved are returners Mason Love, Peyton Argent and William Joyce. There’s also Max Kelley, a freshman from Gallatin, Tennessee, who joined the team this summer as a former three-star recruit.

The one common factor each of them shares? None have game experience. So when that moment likely comes, it’ll be a pressure situation for whoever wins the job coming out of camp.

“For me, the thing that I focused on is that none of us here has played in a game yet,” Kelley said. “So none of us has game experience over one another. Come the 31st of this month, it’ll be the first game for whoever it is starting. So kind of square one for everybody.”

Kelley is at somewhat of a disadvantage compared to the other kickers since he didn’t go through spring practice earlier this year. He’s had to catch up with the “fast-paced” nature of college football, as he described it. His focus has only been on what he can control and not worrying about external factors.

“One thing I’ve really been focusing on is trying to not worry about what everyone else is doing. Focus on myself and not compare myself because I’m brand new here,” he said. “So it’s been a grueling transition, but it’s been a fun one for sure.”

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The three kickers who were here in the spring got a head start in the competition, which special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis said he will take into account when making a decision.

“I don’t think it can just be a fresh start. I think it’s got the human total of everything that they’ve done,” DeCamillis said. “So that’s why I say, I think Max is at a little bit of a disadvantage, but at the same time, he’ll come in and compete with those guys, just like he’s been.”

Each of the kickers took part in a kicking competition during the middle of the team’s spring game back in April, almost simulating the atmosphere they’ll face in the season. Joyce and Love each made their kicks, while Argent’s doinked off the left upright and didn’t go in.

“Going from Missouri High School, where I don’t think I played in front of over 10,000 people, and then coming here to an SEC school, and even during the spring game, playing in front of 30,000 people, it’s a huge difference,” Love said. “It doesn’t really change anything about my technique or my preparation going into everything, but it was definitely a huge confidence booster.”

Joyce and Argent have both been a part of the program for multiple years and are very much involved in the kicking battle. But Love is viewed as the potential favorite not just for kicker but for punter as well.

In the spring, head coach Shane Beamer initially brought up the idea of Love pulling double duty as well as holding too. As the season approaches, this is something South Carolina is still exploring as an option.

“I think we’re going to put the best guy out there, regardless of who it is,” DeCamillis said. “Does it present some problems for you? Sure. We want the guy that’s going to have a chance to make the kick, and I think if Mason’s that guy, then he’s going to be the guy.”

Love redshirted as a freshman in 2024 as he backed up longtime punter Kai Kroeger. While he considers himself to be a perfectionist and would be happy to do both kicking and punting, he’s going to let the competition play out first and see what happens.

“What I learned is, if I think of it as like, if I overthink it and think if I miss a kick, I’m not gonna be a starter, then I don’t have as much fun,” Love said. “I think if I just go out there and kick and not worry about what’s gonna happen if I miss it, if I don’t miss it, then it becomes more fun to just go out there and swing freely, instead of trying to be all tight and over focused on everything.”

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