'We're back in our groove': Texas kicker Bert Auburn shakes off early-season struggles
Last month in Houston, Texas ran a trick play for Bert Auburn.
The Longhorns kicker lined up for a 44-yard field goal but instead ran to his left and caught a quick pass from holder Ryan Sanborn. Auburn initially made a defender miss, but he was soon swarmed by a litter of Cougars. He picked up a yard on his first collegiate catch. Texas, though, was facing a fourth-and-6.
"The catch, it was just a little swing pass. I had to catch that one," Auburn said a few weeks later.
OK, so maybe Auburn isn't Xavier Worthy in the open field. But Texas doesn't need him to be. His job is to kick, and he was pretty good at his job Saturday.
Auburn booted four field goals in the 33-30 overtime win over Kansas State. His 49-yarder in the third quarter tied for the longest kick of his career. He added a 34-yarder that gave Texas a short-lived lead in the fourth. And his 42-yard make in overtime ended up being the difference.
With the win, No. 7 Texas (8-1, 5-1) remained in control of its hunt for a Big 12 championship. Texas and No. 22 Oklahoma State (7-2, 5-1) are tied atop the conference standings. There are three weeks left in the regular season.
"We've got a lot of confidence in Bert," Texas defensive lineman Barryn Sorrell said. "I'm happy that he was able to show up when it mattered, and he's been showing up, so I don't expect anything less from him."
Before Saturday, Auburn had never kicked a game-winning field goal in the final minutes of regulation or overtime at Texas. Not that he hadn't come close.
He made a 49-yard field goal last season with 89 seconds left against No. 1 Alabama, but Texas squandered that 19-17 lead in a 20-19 loss. Last month, his 47-yarder with 1:17 left made him a hero for 62 seconds at the Cotton Bowl before Oklahoma rallied in a 34-30 triumph.
This time, the Texas defense didn't relinquish the lead that Auburn gave it. A fourth-down stop at the 4-yard line ended the game.
Steve Sarkisian stood by his kicker
Afterward, Auburn was able to celebrate in the end zone with his dad, Bert, and sister, Elle. His family had seats in the south end zone's field club for the first time.
"I told him he needs to get those seats every time," Auburn said.
In addition to helping Texas beat Kansas State, Auburn's kicks Saturday validated a decision by head coach Steve Sarkisian to stick with the Flower Mound product this season. Over the first five games, Auburn attempted 14 field goals and missed five. A few days after he missed twice against Kansas, Sarkisian was asked if he was thinking about benching his kicker. "No," he replied.
During Saturday's postgame press conference, Sarkisian defended that stance. He said he wouldn't tell a player like Auburn that he believed in him if he didn't. That said, it was his and special teams coordinator Jeff Banks' jobs to make sure Auburn got better.
"We know what he's capable of," Sarkisian said. "The easy thing is switch kickers. Well, yeah, that's great. What if that guy you put in and switch to and he starts missing them, then what do you do? Right? So you try to instill in the guys the confidence and you work on some of the fundamentals and techniques to where they can improve it. Then they start to get their rhythm back, and I think that Bert's a prime example of that."
'We're back in our groove'
For his part, Auburn appreciates the support. He even said he views Sarkisian's much-discussed decisions to keep his offense on the field on various fourth downs as more of a reflection of the coach's aggressive nature than a vote of no-confidence in his abilities. "I mean, I already have over 20 attempts on the year," he noted.
Auburn has 22 attempts this season, and he's made 17 of them. A string of 94 extra points that dates back to 2021 is the second-longest in school history.
"As a kicker, you're going to miss kicks," Auburn said. "You wish you could have some back, but that's just how it goes, and you've got to leave them in the past and just keep working, steady your routine. That's what me, Lance (St. Louis, Texas' deep snapper) and Ryan did, and now we figured everything out. We're back in our groove."
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic during his senior at Flower Mound, Auburn said he wasn't able to attend college camps. That led to the all-district honoree receiving just a few offers to be a preferred walk-on. He chose Texas in part because he knew that Cameron Dicker wouldn't be around forever.
Auburn sat behind Dicker during the 2021 season and then beat out Will Stone for the place-kicking job last year. When asked nearly two years ago about Auburn, Dicker told the American-Statesman that his soon-to-be-successor "makes kicks; he's a consistent guy."
Auburn still talks on a weekly basis with Dicker, who's now kicking for the Los Angeles Chargers. Texas fans know about Dicker's current whereabouts. He received plenty of cheers when his name was announced at Royal-Memorial Stadium during a roundup of former Longhorns in the NFL on Saturday. An announced crowd of 102,846 also cheered loudly for Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker.
But neither Dicker nor Tucker was the most popular kicker Saturday. After his field goal in overtime, that honor belonged to Auburn.
"Just knowing that guys like Phil Dawson, Justin Tucker, Cameron Dicker that have been through here, just the legacy they've left and just to even be a part of it is amazing," Auburn said.
Saturday's game
No. 7 Texas (8-1, 5-1) at TCU (4-5, 2-4), 6:30 p.m., ABC, 1300
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas kicker Bert Auburn hits winning field goal against Kansas State
