Clemson’s primary kicker on Saturday against Florida State could be a player who wasn’t on the roster the first three weeks of the season.
According to Rivals’ Tiger Illustrated, former backup kicker Jonathan Weitz was recruited back to the team by coach Dabo Swinney after the Tigers’ win over Florida Atlantic on Saturday. Weitz watched the win over the Owls from Charleston, but is now a part of the team and, per Tiger Illustrated “considered the top candidate to trot out Saturday against Florida State.”
Weitz is back with the team because of freshman Robert Gunn III’s struggles so far. Gunn is 14-of-15 on extra points but just 1-of-4 on field goal attempts so far this season. He had two field goal attempts blocked in the season-opening loss to Duke and missed a field goal and an extra point in Saturday’s win over FAU.
Clemson entered the 2023 season needing to replace the reliable B.T. Potter at kicker. Potter was Clemson’s primary kicker for the past four seasons and made all but one of the 235 extra points he attempted and made at least 77% of his field goal attempts in each of the past three seasons.
Potter’s excellence is why Weitz didn’t see the field much in his three seasons with the team. Weitz didn’t attempt a field goal from 2020-22 and kicked one extra point in each of those seasons.
Weitz is eligible to play in 2023 because he’s been taking online classes through Clemson for his MBA. And if he takes the field against the No. 5 Seminoles on Saturday, Tiger Illustrated says he could be the primary option on shorter field goals. Just how wild would it be if Clemson needs Weitz to make a kick as time expires to win the game?
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