Numbers Show Just How Good Kicker Alex Raynor Is

Alex Raynor celebrates after his record-setting field goal. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Just how good is Kentucky senior kicker Alex Raynor?

Well, just look at the numbers because they don’t lie.

— He made four field goals in Saturday’s 13-12 loss to No. 1 Georgia and has now hit 10 straight kicks going back to the Tennessee game Oct. 28 at Kroger Field.

— Two of his four field goals were over 50 yards, including a school-record 55-yard field goal in the first quarter. The previous record was 54 yards by Austin MacGinnis at Tennessee in 2014.

— He is now only the second player in UK history with two 50-yard field goals in one game (Joe Bryant did it in 1977 in a win over Georgia).

— Since transferring from Georgia Southern, Raynor is 17-for-18 on field goal attempts and 52 of 53 on extra points.

— His 12 points against Georgia were the most point against a No. 1 ranked team since Patrick Towles scored two touchdowns against Mississippi State in 2014.

— He was third in the SEC in field goal percentage (10 of 11 for 90.91 percent) in 2023.

“I am so grateful for the coaches and this staff that believe in me, and I wouldn’t be here without them,” Raynor said Saturday night.

Raynor doesn’t worry about what his range is. If Kentucky coach Mark Stoops sends out to kick, he does it.
 
“My job is to go out there and do whatever they send me out to do. I feel comfortable anywhere on the field,” he said.

Why not? He seems to make every kick he takes so he should be confident and could leave UK’s as the most accurate kicker ever. However, he didn’t hit his school-record 55-yard field goal as well as he would have liked.

“Honestly no, it was an ok hit ball, but all the training and stuff that my coaches and I do is about making those miss-hits still go in from a distance especially,” he said.