Swinney Announces Starting Kicker

CLEMSON — Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney announced who his starting placekicker will be, as the 14th-ranked Tigers gets set to play top-ranked Georgia on Saturday in the Aflac Kickoff Classic in Atlanta.

Swinney said freshman Nolan Hauser will get the nod when Clemson lines up for its first field goal of the season. He also said Robert Gunn will continue to be the guy on kickoffs.

“[Hauser] won the job in camp,” Swinney said Tuesday.

Swinney said Hauser won the job because more of his kicks went through the uprights more than Gunn’s did.

“It was that simple. It is not subjective,” the Clemson coach said. “It was cut and dry. He just had a better camp. It can change next week. It can change in two weeks.

“He clearly won the job. It’s not like it was tied. It was for a little while, but he clearly separated. So, he has done a great job and he earned the opportunity to start in this game.”

Swinney said Hauser connected on about 80 percent of his attempts in practice.

Hauser completed his prep career as the national record-holder for career field goals made (66), breaking the record held by Cole Hedlund of Argyle, Texas since 2013 (56). He finished third in national high school history in kicking points (403) and was rated by 247Sports, On3 and Rivals as the nation’s No. 1 kicker. He went 66-of-81 (81.5 percent) on field goal attempts with a career long of 53 in 51 career games.

“He is all the all-time high school leader. So, it is no different. He just needs to do what he has been doing his whole life,” Swinney said.