Pitt HC Addresses Freshman Kicker's Absence

PITTSBURGH — It looks as though that Sam Carpenter will be starting kicker for the Pitt Panthers moving forward.

Pat Narduzzi announced in his weekly press conference that there is no timeline for true freshman kicker Trey Butkowski's return.

"I wish there was," Narduzzi said.

Pitt's Kicking Situation

Butkowski is reportedly still dealing with an illness and is on track to miss the regular season finale against Miami. It would make it the third consecutive game that he's been ruled out.

Butkowski was first ruled out in the lead up to Pitt's Week 12 game against Notre Dame. Carpenter, the team's kickoff specialist, was tasked with replacing Butkowski and went 1-for-2 on field goal attempts in his first career start.

Carpenter's only attempt against Georgia Tech came right before halftime when he went out to try a 40-yard field goal. He missed, but a penalty on the Yellow Jackets gave him another opportunity from 35 yards out, but he missed again.

"I was a little disappointed, obviously," Narduzzi said. "It's a tough situation to be in on the road. In that atmosphere. Still have a lot of belief in Sam. It is what it is. Some pressure situations and he didn't react real well to it. I thought for sure after that practice swing before the half that the second one was going to go through."

Butkowski's Impressive Season

Butkowski already holds the Pitt program record with the most consecutive field goal conversions with 16 after just eight games at the collegiate level. The previous record was held by the Panthers' previous kicker, Ben Sauls, when he made 15 consecutive kicks across the 2023-24 seasons.

The freshman has also only missed two field goals this season and is 19-for-21overall and 40-for-41 on PATs. His field goal percentage of 90.5% is close to surpassing another program record. Chris Ferencik currently holds the Pitt record for best field goal percentage in a season, with 92.3% after going 12-for-13 in 1995.

Butkowski is still among the nation's top scorers, even after missing two games. He is 11th in the nation with 97 total points and ranks third in points per game, with 10.8. The only other players to average more points per game than Butkowski are Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (10.9) and North Texas running back Caleb Hawkins (13.2).