Cal’s Derek Morris gets his kicks after a tough college debut

After the worst moment of his young football career, Derek Morris is alive and well.

In fact, the Cal freshman made five field goals in last Saturday’s 44-7 win over Oregon State, tying a program record and earning Atlantic Coast Conference Specialist of the Week honors.

“It was an amazing feeling,” Morris said this week, “absolutely amazing to come back from the week before.”

Morris made his college debut the week before against North Carolina State, taking over placekicking duties for senior transfer Ryan Coe. Things went well for a while, with Morris converting field goals from 41, 26 and 24 yards, allowing the Bears to forge a 23-10 lead.

But with 1:34 remaining and the Bears now trailing 24-23, Morris lined up from the left side for a 28-yard field goal that could put Cal ahead. He pushed the ball wide right and the Wolfpack held on and won.

Looking back on the moment a week and a half later, Morris said, “My nerves were a little bit, but higher than I would like.”

Morris is keen to complete the kick and believes he was ‘too cautious’, rather than remaining relaxed and natural in his process. “Almost robotic,” he explains in the video at the top of this story.

“The lesson I learned and carried forward this week is just going out there and swinging with everything I’ve got and trusting that I’m going to be good enough to keep it consistent,” he said. “I never want to miss it if I don’t give it my all.”

It helped that his parents and sister were at the game and provided some friendly give-and-take afterwards. He slept well enough that night, but mostly avoided his phone. “I know social media is not my friend when things like this happen,” he said. “It wasn’t the happiest evening.”

Morris said his teammates and coaches have been “super supportive,” especially former Cal and NFL kicker Ryan Longwell, who joined the coaching staff this season as a senior analyst.

Longwell played 16 seasons in the NFL for the Packers, Vikings and Seahawks, making 361 field goals.

“The funny thing is, his first game-winning kick (attempt) in the NFL was 28, he left hash and he missed it,” Morris said. “It was a crazy coincidence that we had the same kick.”

Longwell told Morris he could either let the missed kick ruin him or he could “let this moment push you to keep going and use it as emphasis to keep getting better.”

Longwell took the latter path after his early disappointment. He told Morris he made his next 12 field goal attempts during his rookie season of 1997.

“It was quite nice to hear that and now that I’ve come back it gives me more confidence,” Morris said.

Longwell’s anecdote was largely accurate. He actually made seven in a row, only to have a 47-yard attempt blocked before hitting his next five. So 12 in a row that had a chance.

During his recruitment at Cal from Franklin, Ohio, Morris found another connection with Longwell during a phone conversation. Both use a somewhat unusual two-step approach to kicking, rather than the three-step used by most kickers.

“With a mentor like him who has lasted so long in the league and does the exact same thing I do, I want to strive to do what he did,” Morris said.

After the NC State game, Morris said the Bears did drills during the week where teammates yelled at him as they tried to throw a kick in an attempt to simulate a pressure-like situation.

He said the drill was helpful and also credits his 5-for-5 success against OSU to the work of long snapper David Bird and holder Lachlan Wilson, who also serves as the Bears’ punter.

“That whole operation makes me feel comfortable and I can trust that they will all do their job so I can do mine,” he says in the video above.

“It feels really good to come out of that (OSU) game. It just boosts my confidence and allows me to go into this season with a good mentality.”

Morris said he had never made five field goals in a game. He kicked a 46-yarder against the Beavers, short of his best of 52 yards in high school. And while he said he once converted a 70-yarder in kicking camp, Morris will handle all field goal attempts from 48 yards out, while Coe will be called on for longer kicks.

Now going 8 for 9 this season, Morris said he expects to convert more than 90 percent of his kicks and sees no reason why he can’t make them all the rest of the season.

The Bears have a bye this week before playing at Wake Forest a week starting Friday. When asked if he would fancy another chance to make a game-winning kick, Morris said he knows the opportunity will present itself.

“That’s always in the back of my mind because I always want to bounce back and prove that I can do it,” he said. “At the same time, I would like to see the team blow Wake Forest out of the water. That is the hope.”