COLUMBIA – He could have given up. After losing his first four field goal attempts in 2017, Parker White could have returned to the anonymous life he led as a freshman from South Carolina the year before, just John Q. Student whose Twitter wouldn’t explode every time he dared to miss a shot.
He felt he couldn’t. One, he knew he was in it to be the guy Coach Will Muschamp and his Gamecocks teammates wanted and needed him to be.
Two, it’s a kicker mentality. Miss one, there will always be another. And that one is coming in.
“It’s hard to put it in a small sentence,” he pondered when asked how he would sum up his career. “I will say that I struggled with many of the bad things early in my career, some boos, but I just kept my head down, started working and said, ‘I can change that.’
“I’m a good kicker, I’m confident in myself and I just need to go out there and keep kicking and, eventually, this will change and change my reputation a little.”
He never paid attention to his failures and takes the same approach to his success. However, the numbers don’t lie – after plugging in both of his attempts at opening the Gamecocks season last week, White quietly set up a series of 12 consecutive field goals. It is the fourth longest streak of games in the country and only three away from the record for the legendary Collin Mackie program.
“Am I really?” he asked. “That’s pretty cool. I saw someone tag me in a tweet that was 12. I knew I had done some, but I wasn’t sure what it was. But yes, this is really cool, excited to go to Gainesville and, hopefully , do some kicks. ”
Gamecocks play 3rd place in Florida at noon on Saturday.
South Carolina’s Parker White celebrates with his mother, Jennifer Howe, and his sister Peighton after their decisive kick against Missouri in 2018. Provided / Ryan Bethea
He is able to play now after that humble start, a period when the first make of his career beat Louisiana Tech, but was followed by losing three of his next five. He has since connected with four more game winners, finally started his first 50-yard career and is starting to climb the record charts.
He graduated in May and, under normal circumstances, this season would be White’s last, but COVID-19 has given him another year of eligibility if he wants to use it. The decision was not made, but there is definitely an impetus to stay – averaging 77 points per season, White could easily break the USC career mark by scoring points and challenge for records in field goal attempts and hits.
“At home in Charleston, I was kicking a lot with Elliott Fry,” said the former Wando High spotlight about his summer. “I sent him a joke text message as soon as the NCAA established the rule that you could come back. I just texted him and said, ‘Congratulations, I just broke your record.’ We’ll see how it will happen, but he liked it, I think. “
His work with former Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Jeff Reed and USC great / current Tampa Bay Buccaneer Ryan Succop paid dividends. White, inconsistent as a freshman in a red shirt, is now almost automatic after 49 yards. Much has been said about why Muschamp decided to kick a field goal against Tennessee while losing seven points with 3:16 to play last week, but nothing about whether White could or could not do that.
His 45 yards was right in the middle.
“I had a difficult start, but I am very proud of him, continuing to persevere and fight for it. After his first season, he committed himself from a technical point of view, really worked hard to put himself in the position he is in now, ”said Muschamp. “I have every confidence in the world in him to do kicks.”
It corresponds to the confidence that White found in himself.
Campbell Trophy Semifinalist
White is also a semifinalist in the Campbell Trophy, awarded to the best academic football player in the country. He has a chance to win a $ 18,000 graduate scholarship as one of the 12-14 finalists and a $ 25,000 scholarship if he wins the prize.
Follow David Cloninger on Twitter @DCPandC.