The kicker is simultaneously the most loved and hated position from a fan perspective — fortunately for the ones residing in Arkansas, the former tends to be true more often than not.
Razorback kicker Cam Little has made every extra point attempted in his collegiate career (96 total) along with 33-of-40 field goal attempts (82.5%). His 195 points scored have cut deficits, taken leads and flat-out won games.
Going into the offseason, Little wanted to improve. The Moore, Oklahoma, native wanted to do everything in his power to separate himself from the good kickers and the elite. His primary focus was keeping a consistent flight path.
"I think just kind of keeping my ball flight consistent," Little said last Sunday. "Freshman year I had a pretty good ball flight, it was pretty straight. It didn’t have a lot of movement on it. I think that kind of was why it led to a lot of success on some kicks that were longer, because the longer you can keep the ball straight — I mean obviously the kicks are going to fly straight off if you go in the uprights …. I want to continue on that."
The 6-foot-2 specialist has learned a lot from watching the best of the best do their thing. Observing the technique of NFL kickers is helping Little separate himself from the pack.
"A lot of NFL kickers, that’s what separates a lot of guys," Little said. "You can be a good college kicker and they’ll be some variation in your ball flight as long as it goes in. But those NFL guys keep that ball straight for such a long time, and that’s really what I’m trying to achieve. Is just keeping that ball flight straight."
After participating in the Razorbacks' first scrimmage of fall camp Saturday, it's pretty clear the extra attention to detail has paid off for Little, who made a 58-yard field goal according to head coach Sam Pittman.
"At the end of the scrimmage, we put 13 seconds, one timeout, we were on the 46-yard line and we got up to the 40, called timeout and Cam came in there and busted a 58-yarder that could've went 68," Pittman said. "He knocked the heck out of that ball."
Little's leg is powerful and he put that on display with a 60-yarder in practice Tuesday. You wouldn't guess it based off his stature. Kicking alone isn't his only attribute. The junior could be a threat for some fake kicks with his speed.
"I can’t believe the guy’s leg," Pittman said. "He’s just a little ‘ol bitty fella. But man, he can kick. I’ll tell you what, he’s fast, too. Maybe we can have a fake with him. He’s fast and he’s powerful and, man, he’s kicking good. He’s hitting them, and he’s got a leg. He’s earned the kickoff spot, too."
With full control of place-kicking duties and potentially kickoff duties, Little is the face of Arkansas' special teams unit. He will play a major role in the team's success and — after an offseason of training — should be expected to hit plenty of game-changing field goals during the 2023 season.
