UCF Kicker Will Stone on his Program-Record 57-Yard Field Goal

All right, well, obviously a disappointing result, but you made UCF history with the longest field goal. Just talking through the end of the first half, and the coaches told you they wanted you to kick it 57 yards. Do you have any doubt that you can put it through? No, no, I'm probably the most confident one to believe in myself. As a decision-making kicker, I think you just have to be that way. You've got to believe in yourself, and thankfully the coaches believe in me. And let me go out there and hit the kick. Yeah. To have a kick like that, what kind of rush is that? I know the game didn't go the way you wanted, but to have a 57-yarder? It felt great. I think I was more thankful and happy. I just got to see my teammates after and how excited they were for me. I think that shows what this team is. The teammates that we have, the teammates that I get to be around, they're just as happy, if not happier for me, than I was. I was excited, but they all rushed me, and we had a moment, and they were just really happy for me, and it speaks to the idea as well. Coach Frost talked about kind of tempering expectations this week after the BYU win and basically warning everyone about the idea of facing a good Baylor team. Do you guys feel like the players kind of got that message this week? We will prepare for that. Yeah, I think we put that game to bed. I can't really speak for the actual game plan because I'm not really in the meeting room but mentally I felt like the guys that I was around were really prepared and just really focused. Well, what's going through your mind, obviously, but you know you still got to go out there. and give your team the best shot, and go compete. Yeah, it's a team sport, and it takes all 11 every play, and that's the beauty of the game is that I'm going to need these guys at some point, and just like they did last week, they're going to pick me up, and they're going to take me with them. And so just me being able to try and do that for them just means a lot to me to be able to try to help them up and give us momentum because at the end of the day, they're going to do the same thing for me. A lot of that's private, but just regroup, and just like last week, watch the film, see how we can get better, put it to bed, and then put our minds at what's ahead of us this next Saturday. How has this team been in that 24-hour rule? season. Because you've been in a season now, what's that been like? Yeah, I think football has been notorious for building you up and breaking you down, and I think that's another... A great part of the game is you've got to learn to stay steady, and you're going to have some ups and some downs, but you've got to really just stay focused and have your goals and just keep chipping away so that when you're done with the season, you look back and you're proud of what you've got to accomplish. Will, as a kicker who, coming into this season, has only done two extra points, what does it mean for you to be able to succeed on a 57-yard field goal like that for the group? It's great. I'm not gonna lie, I felt great. It's a really cool accomplishment, but I'm not making that if it's not for my snapper, my holder, and those other 10 guys blocking for me. Those guys did a really good job today, holding a really good pocket. Kyle, the snapper, he was money all day. Holder hit the spot every time, so that's, and those guys did 99% of the job. What would you say is the difference between when the first guy here used to get first in the world, so this all made a big difference? I think I'm the same old me still. I think I'm going to stay steady because we can have great games. We can have not so great games. But just don't ride the highs and lows of football. Stay steady. Stay the course. And I'm going to get back tomorrow, watch the film, see how I can improve. And then in these next practices, I'm going to improve. Try to be better than I was. How soon after you made the big award did you get a school record? Someone came up and told me before the end of the game, I can't remember the school record. Really? Like, yeah. It was pretty cool, and it was pretty awesome that I got to put my name on something, so it was cool. You had a touch on the emotional part of the sport, where you have a kick block last week, and you go out tonight and make a few field goals. What's your personal way of finding center, finding balance, finding the field? Yeah, so I'm a man of faith, and I do believe in faith. I've been that way my whole life. Knowing that God is with you, regardless, and your identity is not in football, that's really helped me stay very centered, very eyes forward, and not have a reason there. You don't have to worry about the kick before, because it's not going to change. You make a mess, you show. You better think about how you're going to make these next kicks. And it helps, too. Not having a great game or having a good game, just knowing to bring yourself back to center. It's that. To have a weekend like last Saturday against BYU, a tremendous moment, and then to have this kind of atmosphere for the space game, how disappointing was it not to be able to deliver a win? Yeah, it's tough. I mean, I think running out of that tunnel, that's pretty cool. That's a pretty underrated atmosphere that people should start looking for. It's tough, though. So, that's... It's tough. You put in a lot of work with your guys and the people next to you, and it's tougher seeing all the work that your teammates put in. and then not to get a win out of it. That's the crushing part, knowing how hard they work and what they put into it. Obviously, the offense even struggled mightily against Baylor game, but the special teams were consistent. You made your kicks. Atticus had a couple of plus punts. How did you take that consistency from today and help the other units kind of get ready for next week? I think our offense and our defense are, they're dang good. And we may not be dang good every game of the year. And I think they've been really consistent. They've done a really good job of holding our special teams up and holding us accountable when we don't have the best days. So just knowing that I got their back and they got mine. We're gonna keep moving forward together because no one can do it alone. It's gonna take everyone on this team to move forward together and to accomplish what we wanna accomplish. Thank you, we got one more question.