David Olano’s Big Leg Earns SEC Honor After Texas A&M Win

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David Olano gave Texas A&M more than points Saturday night. He gave the Aggies confidence from well beyond normal field-goal range.

The fifth-year kicker was named SEC Special Teams Player of the Week after making both of his field-goal attempts and all four extra points in Texas A&M’s 34-7 win over Arkansas. It’s the first weekly conference honor of Olano’s career.

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His biggest moment came at the end of the first half.

With time expiring, Olano drilled a career-long 57-yard field goal to send Texas A&M into the locker room with a 24-7 lead. The kick was the longest by an Aggie since Terrence Kitchens connected from 62 yards against Southern Miss in 1999 and ranks ninth-longest in program history.

Olano wasn’t finished.

He added a 50-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 34-7, finishing the night with 10 points.

“I knew I had the range for it,” Olano said of the 57-yarder. “I love that Coach trusted me with that and obviously love that I was able to convert that.”

The performance continued a perfect start to Olano’s Texas A&M career. He is now 7-for-7 on field goals this season, becoming the first Aggies kicker since 2004 to make his first seven attempts.

His 57-yarder is also tied for the longest field goal by an SEC kicker this season and is the longest made in a conference game.

Olano’s emergence gives Texas A&M another weapon as the schedule gets tougher. Long-range kicking can change decisions in tight games, especially when field position becomes critical against stronger SEC opponents.

The Aggies improved to 3-2 overall and 1-2 in conference play with the win over Arkansas, and they’ll now head to Columbia to face No. 14 Missouri on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT on ABC.

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For a Texas A&M team that has already dealt with its share of uneven moments, having a kicker who can comfortably threaten from 50-plus yards is a major advantage.

And after Saturday, the SEC noticed too.

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