Rebels’ standout kicker Jonathan Cruz could be the difference in a close game
OXFORD, Miss. – Should Ole Miss golf coach Chris Malloy need an extra member to add to his roster later this season, he might look to Lane Kiffin for help.
Kiffin has a kicker with a golfer’s mentality. And thus far, to borrow a golf term, he has been pretty much dead solid perfect.
One of the plays of the game.
What a kick by Jonathan Cruz. Proved to be very important. #OleMiss
— Brad Logan (@BradLoganCOTE) October 2, 2022
He is 36-for-36 on PATS this season and is 6-for-7 on field goals with a long made of 53.
Jonathan Cruz came to Ole Miss via the transfer portal from Charlotte and has shown the Rebels’ football team that as a kicker – much like a golfer – he has a long game, a short game and he can putt as well.
The Cartersville, Ga., native has been a bright spot for the Rebels during their 7-0 run to start the season in several ways.
Just look at his long game. So far, he has kicked off 46 times and more than half of those have resulted in touchbacks. Co-defensive coordinators Chris Partridge and Maurice Crum will take the opponent having to start a drive at its own 25 anytime.
His short game is not bad either. Cruz, who holds more than a few school records at Charlotte, has made 6-of-7 of his field goat attempts and has a long of 53 yards. He has been perfect from inside 49 yards this year.
His putting game has been on target as well. Cruz has nailed all 36 of his extra-point attempts.
But like Chevy Chase’s character in the movie “Caddyshack,” Cruz possesses a few tricks like Chase did in the 1980 film.
Saturday, with Auburn creeping back into the game, Cruz hit a field goal then calmly dribbled a perfect onside kick the Rebels recovered. Ole Miss scored a touchdown five plays later to help salt away the 48-34 win.
CRUUUUUUUUUUUUZ 🙌@cruzjonathan7 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/0o8vLWz1Zq
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) October 19, 2022
And like a golfer, it took Cruz a lot of repetitions to strike the ball just right.
“We practice all week on different ways to kick it. Different ways to position the ball to see you know, what’s the best way to get the bounce or to get it back so it doesn’t go as far so we can get it at ten yards, and I think we found the right one.”
Ole Miss kicker Jonathan Cruz
As a golfer would say, it was right in the fairway as Brandon Buckhaulter fell on the ball 11 yards down the field to give the Rebels an important extra possession in the game.
And like a golfer, he knew the kick was going to be successful simply because of how it came off the club – or in this case, his foot.
“It felt good coming off my foot and it took that bounce,” Cruz said. “Sometimes you’re kind of scared if it’s just going to die down or something but it took the bounce high enough for it to carry ten yards. You have a feeling whenever you hit it like if it’s a field goal and I know if I hit it bad that I just know before picking my head up,” Cruz said. “But on that onside kick, it felt good.”
Or to put it in another way, it was dead solid perfect. Just like Cruz has been for the Rebels.
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
