Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel is looking for his placekicker to reset this week after struggling to knock down field goals in the Vols’ last two contests.
Vols kicker Max Gilbert has racked up a total of 71 points this season with a dozen made field goals and 35 PATs throughout Tennessee’s eight games so far.
Gilbert began the year knocking down 11 of his first 12 field goal attempts in the first six games of the season through the Florida game. Gilbert’s makes included 2-of-2 from 20-29 yards, 5-of-5 from 30-39 yards, 2-of-2 from 40-49 yards, and 0-of-1 from 50+ yards.
The Memphis native knocked down a critical 41-yard field goal in the third quarter against Alabama but missed his prior two attempts on the day. Both of those came from distance, though, at 53 yards and 50 yards, respectively.
While Tennessee did dial up some lengthy field goal attempts for him this past Saturday against Kentucky, Gilbert struggled with a season-low 0-of-3 field-goal showing against the Wildcats. Gilbert missed a 43-yarder on Tennessee’s opening possession, a 40-yarder a few minutes into the second quarter, and a 34-yarder to start the second half.
“It’s important for him just like any other player to have a great week of preparation,” Josh Heupel said of Gilbert on Monday as he looks to bounce back this week. “And I just think from from the first kick to the second kick [against Kentucky], he kind of overcorrected and kind of did the same thing on the third one too. So go find your groove, hit your sweet spot and go play ball.”
Gilbert wasn’t completely out of the zone, though, as he went 4-of-4 with extra points on Saturday night to help Tennessee find the 28-18 win over border rival Kentucky.
“Yeah, if you’ve seen me kick, you know I’m probably not the guy to to help him with his swing,” Heupel jokingly said on Monday. “No, I just, you know, Max hit the ball really well majority of the year. And he hits it that way in practice, too. So for him, resetting from kick to kick, but from week to week, too. It’s important for him just like any other player to have a great week of preparation.”
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Heupel’s reaction to Gilbert’s struggles has been the opposite of recent remarks from Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham.
After kicker Ian Hershey’s 7-of-12 start to the season and an 0-2 showing against Cincinnati on Oct. 19, Dillingham embarrassed his own player by inviting Arizona State students to open tryouts for the kicker position on the following Monday.
Instead, Dillingham was forced to take to X to issue an apology to his player the night of the game after his postgame comments. The Arizona State head coach also addressed the situation in his following Monday press conference.
“I’ve never in my career done anything that’s had a negative effect on a kid and I’ve had some really bad seasons, some really bad play,” Dillingham said via The Athletic. “Absolutely failed him.”
Tennessee kicker Max Gilbert is 12-of-18 with field goal attempts on the season, going 2-of-2 from 20-29, 6-of-7 from 30-39, 4-of-6 from 40-49, and 0-of-3 from 50+. Gilbert has made 35-of-35 extra-point attempts this season.
No. 7 Tennessee will host Mississippi State on homecoming this Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. ET in Neyland Stadium. Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for live, on-site coverage of the game in Knoxville.
