Stepping into the towering, 110-foot-tall Kyle Field, surrounded by over 100,000 fans and a deafening roar loud enough to send an Apple Watch into panic mode, would be a nightmare for most kickers. But for Irish graduate transfer Mitch Jeter, it looked like just another day at practice. The former South Carolina Gamecock was flawless on Saturday evening, delivering a perfect 100% accuracy across three field goals and two extra points.
“I think this is my third time playing here, so I've gotten to see it a couple times, and some other place in the SEC too, so it compares like none other,” Jeter said.
Jeter was the sole contributor to the Irish’s six points in the first half — perfect from 26 and 46 yards — to tie up the game each time and set the stage for a momentum shift. He added two extra points in the second half and nailed another clutch field goal on Notre Dame’s final possession, sealing a decisive victory against Texas A&M. Had he missed the 46-yarder, the Aggies would have taken over at midfield with a chance to tie the game. Jeter’s performance was a true save, having put nearly half the points on the board.
“Mitch was big-time,” head coach Marcus Freeman said. “That was clutch. There was a lot of thought going into that field goal, whether to go for it on fourth or kick the field goal. Ultimately, we made the decision to kick it, and that was clutch.”
Freeman named Jeter one of the Players of the Game at Monday’s press conference, alongside Riley Leonard and Xavier Watts. Jeter made sure to acknowledge his teammates at the post-game presser who made their first Notre Dame start against the Aggies.
“I really want to give some credit to my long snapper and my holder — Rino Monteforte and Chris Salerno — both those guys, being able to go out there in their first games for Notre Dame as starters,” Jeter said.
Jeter took to the field 46 times at his previous university, and was a reliable asset who boasted a 92.9% field goal percentage and a 96.3% extra point percentage. His longest made kick as an undergrad at South Carolina was 53 yards. Last year against the Aggies, Jeter had perfect accuracy as well.
Now wearing blue and gold, Jeter was inspired to join Notre Dame for its balanced mix of academics and athletics.
“Whenever I was kind of looking around, it was really what was like the best opportunity for me as a graduate student to be able to go to a school that I could get a really good master's degree from and play top-tier football as well,” Jeter said.
Given his standout performance against arguably the toughest opponent on the schedule, the Irish are undoubtedly glad to have Jeter’s steady leg anchoring their special teams.
“Obviously Notre Dame has got a great team and has great recruits coming in all the time, so I feel like we're able to just have a positive outlook on every single year,” Jeter said.
