COLUMBIA - Tucker McCann's 31-yard field goal sailed in a straight line after his foot met the ball.
The problem for McCann was he was kicking from the right hash, and the kick was not even close to being converted. He was the second kicker to miss a field goal in Missouri's 31-21 loss at South Carolina last Saturday, and the second consecutive miss from McCann. Even converting one of the two misses would have made it a one-score game and would have given Missouri a better chance to even the score.
"Those two field goals were obviously big points in the game," head coach Barry Odom said. "We'd like to obviously have those six points, I know that. And it's also the momentum that goes along with that, good for them bad for us."
It continued a familiar problem that has plagued the Tigers (2-7, 0-5 Southeastern Conference). The freshman McCann is 5-of-9 on field goal attempts and junior Turner Adams missed his only field goal attempt, a 44-yarder against the Gamecocks.
McCann began the season as the starting kicker, but Adams took the job in Week 2 after McCann missed two field goals at West Virginia. That ended up being short-lived for Adams, as McCann took the job back after Adams missed an extra point against Eastern Michigan. Things went better for McCann after, hitting 30-of-32 extra points and his next four field goals.
Adams, however, got the job against South Carolina because of undisclosed off-the-field issues involving McCann the week prior. That is, until he missed his fourth-quarter attempt and Odom decided McCann had sat out long enough.
"There's been a couple of times this year where we haven't started a guy because of whatever reason throughout the week then over the course of the game they play," Odom said. "He's no different than any other position."
Odom doesn't question McCann will get past his struggles. He did, after all, give a recruit to the four-star recruit from O'Fallon, Ill.
Yet that does not mean Odom knows where his kicking game stands now.
"Today, no I don't," Odom said. "We're going to continue to work on it.
"The ability to go out and kick a whatever yard field goal, it was we'd like to have that in our back pocket to know that offensively you can get to the 23-yard line we're getting three points. We need to get to that point."
Struggling to make field goals consistently this season has also left the offense in a bind at times. Multiple times on fourth down and a short distance in field goal range Odom has had to weigh his options on whether to kick it or go for it.
"We've got to find a way to get a score," Odom said. "If we don't get six you've got to find a way to get three. We've had times where we've had to call timeout . and I want to look at really where is the ball, I mean we've got some decisions to be made there.
"What do you feel good about offensively if it's fourth and two from the chances of getting that first down or lining up and kicking it. It's great if we make it, it's great if we get it on first down."
Missouri has six kickers on its roster, but only McCann and Adams has attempted a kick this season. The other kickers on the roster are junior Luke Jackson, redshirt junior Nick Bartolotta, sophomore Andrew Carr and freshman Ben Tesson. Sophomore Corey Fatony, by contrast, is the only punter on the roster.
Despite being nominated for Ray Guy Award for the nation's best punter, don't expect to see Fatony lining up for field goals any time soon.
"He can't, I wish he could," Odom said of Fatony with a smile.