Little's 1st game-winning FG sends 'The Boot' to Fayetteville
BATON ROUGE, La. — There were no concerns on Arkansas’ sideline about sending a freshman kicker out to win a night game at Death Valley.
After forcing a turnover, the Razorbacks played it conservative on their possession in the overtime period and Cam Little calmly booted a 37-yard field goal to give them a 16-13 win over LSU on Saturday.
Little had plenty of time to think about his eventual heroics. Standing by the kicking net when Montaric Brown intercepted Garrett Nussmeier’s pass in the end zone, kickoff specialist Vito Calvaruso told him the game would likely come down to his leg.
“I’ve been preparing myself for this situation and I was just ready to go out there and make the kick,” Little said. “I had no doubt in my mind. I had full confidence as I was going to go out there and make the kick.”
It wasn’t just self-confidence, either. Head coach Sam Pittman told the SEC Network immediately following the game that Little has “ice water” in his veins and dubbed him “Mr. Automatic.”
The Razorbacks played it as if they knew they had the victory within its grasp. Quarterback KJ Jefferson kept it on back-to-back plays, gaining six total yards, before running a play to get the ball to the middle of the field and make it as easy as possible for his kicker.
“When Busta came away with the pick, I knew right then in that moment right there we were going to win,” Jefferson said. “Going out there when the offense rolled out there, the main thing we had to do was protect the ball, we knew Cam was gonna make the field goal - he had it in his bag.”
When he initially lined up for the kick, LSU used its lone timeout to try to ice him. It was similar to what Texas A&M did before his win-sealing fourth-quarter kick earlier in the year, so he just did his normal routine, using the extra time to swing his leg and get warmed up.
Little said he felt at ease because he’d gone through the situation at practice quite a bit. Pittman was so comfortable that he didn’t even look at his kicker during the timeout.
“I was talking to the wings and the tight ends about handling the edge pressure,” Pittman said. “But I pretty much felt like if he got the ball up he was going to make it.”
Sure enough, when play resumed, Little’s kick sailed through the uprights to give Arkansas its first win over LSU since 2015 and just its fourth ever win in Baton Rouge, La.
“This is actually my first game-winner — ever,” Little said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever been put in that situation and I was just glad to make the kick. I know how much it means to these guys that have been here forever and they never had The Boot.”
It was the Razorbacks’ first walk-off field goal in overtime since Alex Tejada also made a 37-yarder to beat East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl following the 2009 season. The only other Arkansas kickers to do it are Chris Balseiro (Alabama, 2003) and Todd Latourette (Mississippi State, 1996).
“I think the entire sideline knew that Cam was going to make the kick,” teammate Bumper Pool said. “It’s just a cool feeling when your entire team has confidence in a player, and he goes out there and does what he does in practice every single day.”
Little made all three of his field goals against LSU and is now 17 of 21 on the season. His 17 makes are tied for eighth on the UA single-season list, while his 85 points are just shy of cracking the top 10.
Included in Saturday’s performance was a 48-yarder, which improved him to 7 of 10 on field goals of at least 40 yards.
“I know his name is Cam Little, but I call him Little Cam,” Pittman said. “But his leg ain’t. Big Cam is his leg.”