Cam Little is one of the better kickers in the country. Will Arkansas use him more in 2023?
Most of the time, the term “on pace for” isn’t as beneficial as it sounds.
But when it comes to placekickers, a job in college football that isn’t prone to quite as much turnover or variance, the phrase becomes a bit stronger. At least, it’s a bit more accurate.
So when it’s written that Arkansas junior kicker Cam Little is on pace to be the Razorbacks all-time leader in nearly every statistical category the position carries, an idea of his talent is plenty easy to come by.
In two seasons holding the job full-time, Little is 33 of 40 on field goals – a .825 percentage – and has scored 195 points. For reference, he’s more than halfway to Zach Hocker, Arkansas’ all-time leader in field goals (61 of 79) and points (354). Little’s percentage is more than five points better, too (.772).
It isn’t just that Little has been good, he’s been efficient. It was a bit strange, then, last year, when his opportunities were cut by a third. He went from 24 field-goal attempts his freshman season to 16 last year. It wasn’t as though Arkansas was simply going for it on fourth down more often, either, as the Hogs went from 19 such attempts in 2021 to 20 in 2022.
The good news for Little, and perhaps Arkansas’ point total in 2023, is special teams coach Scott Fountain thinks head coach Sam Pittman will give his kicker more chances heading into year three.
“I’m all for it, and I know Cam is too,” Fountain said. “But I will say, so much of how your season is going on offense or defense and the flow of the game dictates that. Obviously, that’s never my call, but I’d like to see us (kick more), and Coach Pittman has talked a little bit more about trying to do that this year.”
