TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Roberto Aguayo was born in May 1994, nearly three years after the initial infamous missed kick in the Florida State-Miami series. But he's gone back and watched them all.
Aguayo was 8 when he was watching the 2002 FSU-Miami game and Xavier Beitia missed a 43-yard kick as time expired. Florida State fans remember it as Wide Left or It Ain't Right.
"I was at my friend's house for his birthday and I was watching that game," Aguayo said. "I had all my Florida State gear on and I remember he missed the field goal and I started crying."
The boy grew up and played soccer, but he soon knew the chance was there to play football. Aguayo realized after his freshman year of high school that he had a strong enough leg to play Division I football.
The scholarship offers poured in, and he chose Florida State. His family, most of them Seminoles fans, was happy. Others reminded him about the school's history.
"Back in my hometown, a lot of people wanted me to go to Florida or Miami," Aguayo said. "They're like, ‘Oh, you're going to the wrong school. That's a wide left and wide right school.' Hopefully I can change that. Through the years we've had good kickers like Graham Gano, Sebastian (Janikowski) and Dustin.
"I know what I can do and I feel confident. You can't linger on that stuff. I just know what I can do."
Aguayo had perhaps the best teacher in the country last year. Each day in practice, he could watch Dustin Hopkins. He could learn and bounce ideas off of Hopkins, the all-time leading scorer in ACC history and the kicker with the most points in FBS history.
Hopkins was FSU's kicker for the last four seasons, and it's rare that coaches use two of their 85 scholarships on kickers. But Jimbo Fisher was able to do that last year when a scholarship opened up at the end of the summer, and Aguayo was able to enjoy a one-year apprenticeship.
"Last year I worked a lot with Dustin," Aguayo said. "I obviously knew I wasn't going to start in front of him. I kind of had the year off to work on some stuff. I've gotten better on my field goals, accuracy wise."
Aguayo made 5 of 6 field-goal attempts in FSU's spring game, including a 58-yarder and 51-yarder. Had Aguayo's 58-yarder been during a regular-season or bowl game, it would have been the second longest in school history (Gary Cismesia had a 60-yarder in 2007).
"The spring game wasn't an official game," Aguayo said. "But in a game (situation), with a snap, hold, with the line watching, that's my farthest with a bunch of people watching me."
Leg strength clearly is not a problem for Aguayo. Fisher in fact feels that the leg strength of Hopkins and Aguayo is equal.
"He's an extremely talented guy," Fisher said.
Aguayo said he didn't feel nervous going out on the field at Doak Campbell Stadium last year or before the spring game. The only question with Aguayo seems to be one of the moment -- will he be affected at all by a pressure kick in a full stadium when the clock is running down? It's just hard to tell until that time comes.
Hopkins feels that Aguayo is prepared.
"I'd say he's better than I was coming into my freshman year, as far as being able to kick off the ground and other things," Hopkins said.
"I just feel like he's more comfortable with it than I was coming in."
It's a tough challenge, to say the least, for a freshman. Aguayo at least had a redshirt season and the chance to work with Hopkins. Other FSU kickers have hit the field just months after graduation, like Hopkins or Scott Bentley.
"The big thing is take it slow and don't try to do too much too soon," said Bentley, FSU's kicker from 1993-96. "It's definitely a marathon and not a sprint. I can say that more than most because I did play for four years right out of the gate as a freshman. Take it slow. Don't try to do too much too soon. Let maturity happen."
Contact Bob Ferrante at bobferrante17@gmail.com
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