COLUMBUS -- It's probably a good thing place-kicker Mike Nugent wasn't invited to the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York. Given his slight build and choirboy looks, Ohio State's senior co-captain likely would have been turned away at the ballroom doors.
"I can usually sneak under the radar," Nugent said self-deprecatingly. "People will be looking at everybody else and I'll slide by. They'll look at me and say, 'Who's that ... the waterboy?' "
That was the reception Nugent received recently while in Orlando to accept the Lou Groza Award as the nation's top kicker. He was presented the trophy in front of the nation's best players at the Home Depot College Football Awards Show.
Nugent doesn't mind getting short shrift from the stargazers.
Even though he's a consensus first-team All-American and the first Buckeye to win the Groza, he doesn't think he's any different than the thousands who chanted "Nuuuuge" every time he trotted onto the Ohio Stadium field.
First and foremost, he's a fan.
"I went to the awards show a couple of years ago (as a finalist) and got to meet Carson Palmer and Larry Johnson and guys like that," Nugent said. "I was star struck.
"This year I got down there and got to hang out with Jason White and Matt Leinart and Cedric Benson. If someone had told me I'd be able to be part of something like that, I would have said, 'No, that's not going to happen.' The coolest part is meeting guys like that."
While Nugent may lack star power because of the position he plays, he obviously is held in high esteem. He easily won the Buckeyes' MVP award in a vote of his teammates and, according to coach Jim Tressel, was a unanimous choice of Big Ten coaches for all-league honors.
"I think it says -- most importantly -- what people think of him as a person and as a football player," Tressel said. "The guy happens to be a kicker and some feel kickers aren't all-the-way players, but he is. The second thing it tells you about our team is that it believes in special teams.
"A year ago, B.J. Sander was the third-leading vote-getter for the MVP because the team knew the importance of what he did. This year, Nuge was the runaway choice not simply for what he did this year, which was extraordinary, but for what he's done over the years."
Nugent has connected on 61 of 70 field goals the last three seasons, a remarkable .871 clip. Only one of 21 players who have kicked regularly in the NFL over that span has bettered Nugent's mark -- the Ravens' Matt Stover (.884).
Unlike Nugent, who is eight of nine from 50-plus yards in his career, Stover has rarely tried kicks of that distance.
Heading into the Dec. 29 Alamo Bowl against Oklahoma State, Nugent has connected on 20 of 23 field goals this season -- including five of six from beyond 50 yards -- and has extended his two-year streak of consecutive extra points to 80.
Already the owner of 19 school records, Nugent needs eight points in the bowl game to pass Pete Johnson (341) as OSU's all-time leading scorer. Nugent is tied for second on the Big Ten career field goal list with 68, three behind Dan Nystrom of Minnesota.
Earlier this season, Tressel scolded himself for second-guessing his decision to have Nugent try a 52-yard field goal against Indiana. Never mind that he kicked a 55-yard game-winner as time expired against Marshall.
"He's amazing, Tressel said. "I thought, boy, I can't believe we put him in that situation (kicking 50-plus-yarders) all the time, and what if he misses? We give the opponent the ball at the 35 or thereabouts. And, bang, it goes through. Why would we ever doubt him?
"We were going to pooch one kickoff (against Indiana) because he was going against the wind. He said, 'Do you want me to drive it out of the end zone?' I said, yeah. He said, 'Then let's not pooch it. I'll drive it out of the end zone.' And he did.
"I guess I've learned, don't doubt Nuge. He's special."
Naming Nugent to All-America teams has become as automatic as his kicks. To earn consensus honors he made the four major squads -- American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp, Football Writers Association of America and Associated Press.
"I always thought it was the coolest thing when Mike Doss was a consensus All-American (in 2002)," Nugent said. "I thought that was one of the great accomplishments you can get. To think you can make that sort of impact ..."
Especially after Nugent converted only half of his 14 field goal tries as a freshman.
"It was really just experience ... mental experience," Nugent said of the slow start to his career. "I didn't change any kind of kicking motion. I just got stronger and got used to my surroundings. I was an 18-year-old kid and didn't have it together mentally.
"That's one of the things that separates the best from the rest -- if you can handle the hard situations."
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Originally published Saturday, December 25, 2004
