Famine to feast (and beast): Miami’s cool Jose Borregales already phenom. Hello, FSU?
The Miami Hurricanes sideline erupted Saturday when Jose Borregales belted his 57-yard field-goal attempt straight through the Louisville upright, the ball possibly landing a couple hundred miles up the road.
“It was about as excited as I’ve ever seen a Miami Hurricanes sideline,’’ UM coach Manny Diaz said. “It changes everything.’’
With the addition of FIU graduate transfer Jose Borregales, a Miami Booker T. Washington alum and lifelong Hurricanes fanatic, the No. 12 Canes have gone from downright starving to feasting in the kicking game. And now comes the national rivalry that defines the importance of the kicking game more than any other: Florida State (0-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) at Miami (2-0, 1-0) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (ABC).
“I like playing on big stages like that,’’ Borregales said Tuesday. “That’s when the best of me comes out.’’
FSU is no doubt hoping that the best of Borregales has already come out.
In two games, Borregales is 5 for 5 in field goals (including two kicks from 40 to 49 yards and the school-record-tying 57-yarder), 9 for 9 in extra points and has boomed 12 of his 16 kickoffs into the end zone or beyond.
FIU star
Canes fans have hardly forgotten that the same 5-10, 205-pound Borregales almost singlehandedly pummeled Miami in last season’s FIU victory, hitting field goals from 29, 50 and 53 yards. His performance Saturday even outdid that one, with field goals of 22, 40, 48 and the 57-yarder, the longest field goal ever kicked at then-No. 18 Louisville’s Cardinal Stadium.
“Are you kidding me?” national college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit muttered as Borregales’ ferocious kick split the uprights. “How about 65-plus?
“By the way, any kicker that shows up tatted up, eye black — he’s confident.’’
In the FIU game, Borregales was fired up and showed it. After all, his Canes never offered him a scholarship coming out of high school. But Saturday at Louisville, another Borregales was on display, this one cool, calm and supremely confident.
“I try to be a professional and not be too excited because I have a tendency of overcelebrating sometimes,’’ Borregales said Tuesday. “In that kick I didn’t really think about what distance it was because in pregame we hit a 60-yarder from the same spot. I was just doing what I do best — not thinking about if its going to go in or not, just worrying about my mechanics and being technically sound.”
In UM’s first win against Alabama-Birmingham, the Canes were also at the opponent’s 40-yard line as halftime approached. But Diaz opted against the 57-yard field-goal attempt and UM failed to score.
He tried
“As soon as I knew there was a chance — it’s the end of the half — I walked up to him,’’ Borregales said of his interaction with Diaz at that moment in the opener. “I stood right next to him just looking at him, waiting to see if he was going to let me go out there kick. I made him hesitate a little bit... Obviously, me just coming in, I don’t think he had trust in me yet but hopefully after this past game there will be a lot more kicks from anywhere.”
How dramatic is the change with Borregales’ arrival? Last season, UM made 12 of 20 attempts with all but two makes from inside the 40. The Canes were horribly unpredictable in the kicking game, even missing a couple of extra points.
“You could write a book on it,’’ Diaz said last year. “And if you figure it out, you could sell that and not have to do what you do for a living.’’
The Canes were so elated at having an accomplished kicker in their midst, that the first time Borregales lined up for a field goal in practice and, naturally, nailed it, they celebrated as if it were a game-winner.
“I’ve never seen a team get so excited for me getting a field goal [in] practice,’’ Borregales said.
Hail Hedley
Now, not only does Diaz have a standout kicker, he has one of the best punters in the nation in Australian Lou Hedley (45.8-yard average with three inside the 20-yard line), who holds for Borregales. Clay James is his long snapper.
“He’s a freak,’’ Hedley said of Borregales.
And the freak’s little brother, Andres, is coming to UM next season as the top prep kicker in the country according to Kornblue Kicking.
Borregales said the longest kick he’s made in practice has been 70 yards. And who would doubt it? He said his phone blew up “the whole night’’ of the Louisville game. “It’s great for me to be able to show out on a stage like that,’’ he said.
He knows all about the UM-FSU rivalry, rife with historic misses (mostly FSU) and makes.
“The only one that comes to mind was when Florida State blocked an extra point to win the game,’’ Borregales said of the 2016 game at Hard Rock, when Michael Badgley had his final PAT attempt blocked and FSU won 20-19. “That really sucked.’’
Badgley now kicks for the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers, and UM has won its past three games with FSU.
“Other than that I just know that Florida State is known for wide lefts,’’ Borregales said. “Hopefully, we’ll see that this Saturday.’’
Actually, its more of a wide-right history for FSU, but Borregales’ thinking at this point is likely right down the middle — for himself. The ‘Noles blocked two field-goal attempts and an extra-point attempt in their opener against Georgia Tech.
“They got some really tall dudes that can jump,’’ Borregales said. “For me it’s just working on my height off the ball, so it’s having great contact. I have that, so I don’t think we’re too worried about them blocking kicks. But we’re going to work as much as we can this week to make sure that doesn’t happen.’’
This story was originally published September 22, 2020 at 4:28 PM.
