Through three games, Caleb Sturgis is Florida’s leading scorer with 39 points on a perfect 9-of-9 field goals and 12-of-12 extra points.
When your kicker is your leading scorer, it’s usually a good thing and a bad thing. Good because you’ve got a reliable kicker and bad because your kicker is in position to score so many points.
That’s been the case for Florida so far this season.
“I’m always cheering for the offense to score, but if we need to go out there, we’ll do the job,” Sturgis said.
The Gators have struggled in the red zone, forced to settle for field goals on six of their 16 red zone trips, while scoring touchdowns on nine of them. The red-zone struggles have been a point of emphasis for the Florida coaching staff.
After the Gators settled for field goals on three of their first four red zone drives against UAB, head coach Will Muschamp said his team had to do better against Tennessee.
So, while he was undoubtedly happy for Sturgis on Saturday, he probably wasn’t too pleased with the fact that his junior kicker had a career-high four field goals against the Volunteers.
Early in the season, Sturgis has been called on much more than the first-year coach would like. Still, someone as reliable as he has been has been a huge asset to the team.
“Caleb’s just been outstanding for us,” Muschamp said. “A guy that certainly gives me a huge comfort level when we hit that 35-yard line, to know that we’re going to get three points, and I feel pretty comfortable about that.”
Sturgis’ 39 points through three games makes him the only kicker to rack up that many points in the first three games dating back to at least 2000. Only once since 2000 has a kicker tallied more than 30 points in the first three games. Matt Leach had 35 after three games in 2003.
The redshirt junior from St. Augustine is also on pace to break a record currently held by former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.
Sturgis’ name is already tied for second in the school record books for single-season scoring with his 110 points in the 2009 season.
He’s on pace to shatter that mark, as well as Tebow’s school record 138 points in 2007. Tebow hit the mark in 13 games, but Sturgis is on pace to score 156 points in just 12 games.
That’s a two-edged sword for Florida, as it points to Sturgis much-improved accuracy, but also the inability the Gators have showed to punch it into the end zone early in the season.
For a kicker recovering from a back injury that sidelined him for the majority of the 2010 season, Sturgis’ start has been nothing short of spectacular. Feeling healthy and confident, Sturgis has come back with a vengeance.
“I’m happy to be back playing again,” he said. “I’m happy that I’m helping the team and just that our unit right now is playing really well.”
Sturgis’ training regimen has changed somewhat under the new coaching staff, and Muschamp joked in training camp that his kicker won’t be doing any more squats in the weight room.
In addition to pulling back the reins a little in the weight room, Sturgis has kicked less during the week to preserve his leg for Saturdays.
The extra rest has been obvious from the stands and on the stat sheet. After recording touchbacks on just 12 percent of his kickoffs from 2008 to 2010, Sturgis has racked up touchbacks on 29 percent of his kickoffs this season.
“I was excited about how I kicked those ones off, but I also hit a few where I shouldn’t have put them and put the kickoff team in a bad position,” Sturgis said. “They made up for it two times, so they’ve been doing really good and I just need to help them out a little more.”
Sturgis’ leg strength has always been phenomenal since he arrived at Florida. What’s been more surprising has been his increase in consistency, particularly given how much time he missed recovering from his back injury a year ago.
Heading into the season, Sturgis had hit on 71 percent of his career field goal attempts. This season, he’s perfect on nine attempts with three of them coming from more than 40 yards out.
“I feel like I’m hitting my best ball more consistently,” Sturgis said.
While Florida will certainly hope to limit Sturgis’ use field goals as the Gators hit the heart of their SEC schedule, having someone they can’t count on is a luxury not many SEC teams have.
Having someone with range like Sturgis has is something not many teams in the nation have. He has a career long 56-yarder and said he’s comfortable out to 65 yards.
“When the ball is on the 35-yard line, you’re talking about a 52-yard field goal and you feel very comfortable that you’re going to make the field goal,” Muschamp said.
Sturgis is just biding his time. He hopes the offense scores touchdowns, but if they don’t he’s more than ready to go in and convert.
“Wherever we need it, I’d like to think that I could help us once we get into that range if it comes down to it.”