Battle at placekicker

It may be overblown to call it a kicker controversy, but BYU has two solid placekickers battling it out during fall camp.
Sophomore incumbent Mitch Payne and true freshman prep All-America Justin Sorensen have had some accuracy issues to this point in fall camp, but they’ve also impressed their coaches and teammates. Having two talented kickers is a problem coach Paul Tidwell likes to have.
Payne, the younger brother of former Cougar Matt Payne, was injured most of last season, which prevented him from kicking many field goals. He struggled at times with booting kickoffs out-of-bounds.
“Mitch has really worked hard. You know what competition does ‘ it makes us all better,” Tidwell said. “He knew this young All-American was coming in so Mitch worked really hard in the off-season. He’s getting the ball up quicker and getting it elevated better. He’s competing.”
Sorensen owns an amazingly powerful leg. He holds the record for the longest field goal in state history, having booted a 62-yarder for Bingham High. But he needs to show his abilities on the practice field.
“There’s no lock for Justin,” Tidwell said. “He’s got to earn the spot. He has to be more consistent with his kicks. We haven’t done kickoffs yet, and that’s probably where he’ll shine because he has a little bit stronger leg. It’s really exciting that Matt and Justin are friends already and encouraging each other and are team players. They’re competing with each other. That’s the way it should be.’
We could see a scenario where Payne handles the PATs and short field goals while Sorensen does the kickoffs and long field goals.
‘It’s still early, they’re both going to compete for field goal kicking,” Tidwell said. “Kickoffs will work themselves out too.’
Meanwhile, punter C.J. Santiago improved his game as well, according to Tidwell.
‘C.J. worked hard this summer. He and Mitch were two of the first at the top of the hill when we ran the Y. (just before fall camp opened). C.J. needs to be more consistent, but you can tell he’s worked hard over the summer.’