Buckeyes’ Pettrey happy to be kicking once again

His field goals accounted for all of Ohio State’s points against Penn State.

Columbus Dispatch

Amid the gloom in the aftermath of Ohio State’s loss to Penn State, there was a bloom that could not be overlooked. Aaron Pettrey was dead-solid perfect on his two field-goal tries.

Pettrey, who was the No.ÔÄÆ1 kicker as a redshirt freshman three years ago only to lose the job to Ryan Pretorius in preseason the two years since, scored all of OSU’s points in a 13-6 loss.

That does not mean that Pettrey has reclaimed the full-time kicking job. Coach Jim Tressel said he still expects Pretorius to be the choice for extra points and for field goals of 36 yards in length or closer as the Buckeyes head into the three-game homestretch starting with a trip to Northwestern on Saturday.

But considering the background player Pettrey had become since a pulled groin muscle blunted his effort in August 2007, the fact he was the kicker of record against Penn State spoke volumes.

“I was just happy that everybody has confidence in me again in a big game, and that I can come through for them,” Pettrey said.

Josh Huston knows how Pettrey feels. He is a former OSU kicker who had his own deep down years during the Mike Nugent era before re-emerging his senior season as the starter. He watched intently as Pettrey seized the moment against Penn State; his field goals, of 41 and 36 yards, were struck hard, high and true.

“It told me that when he went out there he had the mentality of ‘I’m going to trust my form, I’m going to swing through, and I’m going to bang it right down the middle,’ ” Huston said. “You could tell that he wasn’t nervous, trying to guide the ball through there. He was swinging, just like he was in practice, and letting it rip. Hopefully he can continue to do that.”

Huston, who now works for a company in Dublin after a couple of years of trying to make it in the NFL, has more than a fan’s insight into Pettrey and Pretorius. They have talked for years, and Pettrey especially has been a protege since he first showed up at OSU in 2005, Huston’s senior year.

“When he came in he was a young guy who didn’t know anything about kicking off the ground and form and stuff,” Huston said. “I told him then that if he had any questions, I was here as his resource, but that he had to take the initiative.

“He did. He came in and was humble, and tried to learn everything he could and asked a lot of questions. We really got him turned around and he ended up winning the kicking job.”

Pettrey scored 79 points during the 2006 season, making 8 of 11 field-goal attempts and 55 of 58 extra points. Then came Pettrey’s 2007 season in the shadows — he kicked off 14 times — before he re-emerged this season as the main kickoff man. Huston could relate; after losing the job to Nugent midway through the 2001 season, he fought through injuries and doubts to rise again in 2005.

“I’ve tried to tell Aaron that competition can be tough, and the key is not to get too high or too low on yourself,” Huston said. “It’s natural for a guy to get down, but I’d call him and say, ‘Hang in there buddy. You’ve got the ability. When you get the chance, just go out there and perform.’ And he’s handled it really well.”

Pettrey kicked a 54-yard field goal earlier this season while Pretorius has nailed a 50-yarder, so each has proven he has a strong leg. More important for Pettrey is he has gained the trust of the coaches to use him as more than a kickoff specialist.

“He has been doing a good job from a consistency standpoint, and we felt as if he’s probably the best guy for the longer field goals,” Tressel said. “We made a cutoff of the 20-yard line in normal conditions.”

It now seems that Pretorius, who is 13 of 17 on field-goal attempts this season, is the 3-wood and Pettrey, who is 5 of 5, is the driver. On the second field goal against Penn State, though, the ball was inside the 20-yard-line cutoff but Tressel reached for the driver anyway.

“I felt that with the breeze the way that it was, that his type of ball, the more driving ball, would be better in that situation,” Tressel said. “And those kickoff duties — Penn State was leading the Big Ten and was second in the nation [in kickoff returns], and it was critical if we were going to have a chance to win that game to have good kicks and good coverage. We had both.”