Kicker was a question for UK football entering the season. Not anymore
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- Jacob Kauwe started his UK career with 8 straight made field goals in 2025.
- Kauwe is one of five FBS kickers with a perfect field goal record, minimum 8 attempts.
- Kauwe credited unit chemistry and off-season preparation for early consistency.
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Somewhat lost in Kentucky football’s disappointing start to the 2025 season has been a historic beginning to the career of one Wildcat.
In UK’s 35-13 loss at South Carolina, redshirt freshman Jacob Kauwe converted both of his field goal attempts, making him 8-for-8 to start his career. That’s already the fourth-longest streak of consecutive made field goals from a kicker in program history and the longest streak from a UK kicker to start his career.
“Pretty good start,” Kauwe said before the game. “Can’t ask for much better. I think just the preparation that we’ve put in, and I got two of the best guys in the country ahead of me. Alex (McLaughlin) snapping the ball and Wilson (Berry) holding, it makes my job really easy. I just got to kick it at that point.
“The work over the spring, over the summer, and just the chemistry we got as a unit, and the guys blocking in front of me too, it’s really just felt smooth out the gate. And I hope we keep it rolling.”
Kauwe arrived at Kentucky with a reputation as having one of the strongest legs in college football.
The Wildcats did not need him to play as a freshman due to the presence of Lou Groza Award finalist Alex Raynor, who hit 15 of 16 field goals in 2024, but UK coach Mark Stoops repeatedly hinted that Kauwe could be used if Kentucky ever needed a game-winner in the 60-yard range. Stoops even joked at one point that he had to worry about hiding Kauwe from rival coaches who might try to lure him into the transfer portal.
The question for Kauwe was whether that leg strength could be paired with anything close to the consistency Raynor brought to the job. Kentucky added Sacramento State transfer kicker Zach Schreiner, who hit 19 of 23 field goals and all 40 extra points last season, to the roster this summer as an insurance policy if Kauwe was not as reliable in camp as needed.
“He’s been very steady,” Stoops said of Kauwe. “I wouldn’t say perfect through camp, but definitely a guy that you say, ‘OK, here’s a redshirt freshman with a lot of talent.’ He’s been very consistent, and I appreciate that.”
Kauwe is the only player on an SEC football roster this season who lists his hometown as being in Montana. He is the first Montana high school graduate to sign with an SEC program in the recruiting website era. (Coincidentally, UK left tackle Shiyazh Pete was actually born in Montana but went to high school in New Mexico, while Kauwe was born in Utah before moving to Montana as a child.)
Little of Kauwe’s recruitment actually happened in Montana, though.
He gained the interest of power-conference coaches thanks to his performance at the Kohl’s Professional kicking camps, where he was named one of the top 20 kickers in the country in his class. He won the Kohl’s kickoff competition at the 2023 Texas Showcase.
UK special teams coordinator Jay Boulware then gave Kauwe the chance to kick for the staff. His performance in that tryout earned him a scholarship offer.
“I knew SEC football,” Kauwe said. “… Didn’t know much (about Kentucky). I knew it was a great place with a great culture. I came out here, and it was everything that coaches had explained to me, and everything that I hoped for. I’m loving it so far.”
Kauwe has already converted three field goals of at least 40 yards. His season long came from 41 yards against Eastern Michigan.
That kick received a somewhat fortuitous bounce through the uprights, but it hit so high on the left upright that it likely could have been good from at least 10 yards longer.
“It’s whatever coaches trust to put me out there for,” Kauwe said.
Kauwe is one of just five kickers in the country with a perfect record on field goals and at least eight attempts this season. No other SEC kicker has a perfect success rate with more than five attempts.
Raynor holds the UK record with 18 consecutive made field goals across the 2023 and 2024 seasons, but he hit only seven in a row to start his UK career before his first miss. Raynor had also spent three seasons honing his craft at Georgia Southern before transferring to Kentucky.
Austin MacGinnis, arguably the best kicker in program history, had two streaks of 11 consecutive made field goals. Taylor Begley made nine in a row in 2005. Matt Ruffolo (2021-22) and Craig McIntosh (2010) had eight-make streaks during their UK careers.
Kauwe has already joined that group. He has also made all 12 extra-point attempts this season.
“It’s consistent,” Kauwe said. “That’s my goal every time I come out here, and I try to make that my norm and do a pretty good job of that. And just consistency as a unit in the whole. All summer, we were kicking really, really good, and carried it in the fall camp.
“Couldn’t ask, coming into the season, to be in any better shape.”
This story was originally published October 1, 2025 at 6:30 AM.
