Nolan Hauser has quietly turned into Clemson’s most reliable weapon, and on Saturday he added another highlight to a season that’s already changing how the Tigers think about the kicking game.
Through six games, the placekicker has emerged as one of Clemson’s biggest difference-makers, even though plenty of fans would have pointed first to the receivers, Bryant Wesco and T.J. Moore, first-year starter Gideon Davidson at running back, or freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds. Instead, it’s Hauser who keeps delivering.
Against Charleston Southern, he went a perfect 3-for-3 on field goals, capped by one of the biggest kicks in Clemson history. Just before halftime, Dabo Swinney sent him out for a 59-yard try, and Hauser drilled it 59 yards and one inch. Swinney said the wind made the decision tricky, but the grass gave him enough of a read to let it fly.
“I threw up some grass, I think,” Swinney said. "And I couldn't tell which (way the wind was going).
I was like, it looks like it's going that way, hell, let's kick it. And so he, I think it was 59 yards, he kicked it 59 yards and one inch.
Yeah, so the wind was going back and forth a little bit. But what a kick, what a kick, and that kid's having an amazing year.”
Hauser wasn’t done there. Before the half, he also knocked through kicks from 44 and 41 yards.
The numbers now tell the story of a kicker who has been almost automatic: 15 field goals made with just one miss so far this season. That kind of production has given him real confidence, and Swinney sees it.
“He's just got a lot of confidence right now, so that's really good, going into a five-game conference stretch right here,” Swinney said. “It's nice to know that your kicker is really kicking with a lot of confidence.”
Clemson, as it turns out, has more than a dependable leg. It has a weapon it can trust from long range, and Swinney has seen enough in practice to know this wasn’t a one-off. He said the team works on long field goals every Tuesday to finish practice, and he has watched Hauser hit from 65 yards and even farther in workouts.
“I was actually hoping that we would maybe have a chance at a long field goal today,” Swinney said. “I mean, we worked that every Tuesday, that's how we always finish practice on Tuesdays.
I've seen him kick a 65-yard field goal. I've seen him make some longer ones in practice, so we got confidence in him.
You don't ever know how that situation's gonna work out, what the game's gonna be like. And I thought it was just great, just great for him and his confidence.”
After six games, Hauser has established himself as one of Clemson’s best weapons, and one of the best starts at his position the Tigers could have asked for. The confidence is there, Swinney believes in him, and Clemson knows exactly what it has in its junior kicker.
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