Will Oliver

BYU

Sep 27 (Sat)

8:15 PM

Position:
Place Kicker
Height:
5-11
Weight:
190
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Los Angeles, Calif.
High School:
Harvard-Westlake

AT COLORADO: Career Notes - He finished his CU career second all-time in both scoring and kick scoring (279 points), second in field goals made (50), second in field goal attempts (69), first in both extra points made (127) and attempted (129), second in PAT percentage (98.4) and third in field goal percentage (72.5). He is the first player in Colorado history to lead the team in scoring four straight seasons (three had been accomplished several times). He made the last 102 PAT kicks of his career, dating back to late in his freshman season, to set a school record (old mark was 66). He became the first regular kicker in CU annals to not miss an extra point try in two full seasons, and he did it three times. He kicked off 140 times in his career, with 64 going for touchbacks (38 out of the end zone). Combined, he had 200 placement kicks, making good on 179 of those (89.5 percent), and he was 11-of-13 on field goals in the fourth quarter or later in games (3-of-3 in overtimes).

2014 (Sr.) - He earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors from the league coaches and garnered second-team All-Colorado honors from the state’s chapter of the National Football Foundation in leading the team in scoring with 90 points. He made good on 92 percent of his kicks (42-of-42 PAT, 16-of-21 FG) and had his best year kicking off, with 34 of 61 kickoffs going for touchbacks (21 through the end zone; of the 27 that were returned, seven never made out to the 20-yard line). At one point, he made nine consecutive field goals, tied for the second-longest streak in school history and one shy of tying the record; eight of those were 32 yards or longer (the streak came after he barely missed three field goals in a double overtime loss at Cal). He was on the official watch list (one of 30 players) for the Lou Groza Award, presented to the nation’s top placekicker, but did not advance to semifinalist status. He was twice cited as a College Football Performance honorable mention player of the week, for his games against UCLA (3-3 FG; 4-4 PAT, 13 points; 35 FG tied game with 0:36 left, made 38 & 34 in OT) and Washington (3-3 FG; 2-2 PAT, 11 points; field goals of 32, 39 and 49). He was selected preseason third-team All-Pac-12 by Phil Steele’s College Football and was a fourth-team choice by Athlon Sports. The coaches selected him as the recipient of the Jim Hansen Award for the spring, presented to the player who is the most outstanding academically.

2013 (Jr.) - He earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors as voted on by the league coaches, and was also one of 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award, which is presented to the nation’s top placekicker. The coaches named him the co-recipient of the Bill McCartney Award, given for special teams achievement. He led the team in scoring with 81 points, connecting on all 30 extra-point kicks (extending his streak to 60 in a row) and making good on 17-of-24 field goals (the same exact figures he had compiled over his first two seasons). He opened the year strong by scoring 15 points in CU’s 41-27 win over Colorado State: he made all seven kicks he attempted in the game, three PATs and four field goals, which came from 22, 41, 44 and 52 yards, and he had two touchbacks kicking off; the Groza committee made him one of its “three stars of the week.” He made three field goals in two other games, Oregon (3-of-3, from 33, 22 and 31 yards) and at UCLA (3-of-5, from 23, 47 and 37 yards). He drilled a career-long 53 yard field goal against Arizona, and also kicked a 48-yarder (both kicks were five minutes apart in the second quarter). The average distance of his makes was 33.6 yards (and misses from 46.3 yards), as he was 13-of-15 inside of 45 yards. He assumed the regular role of kicking off for the first time in his career with 56 total, 29 of which were returned; 26 went for touchbacks (16 through the end zone) with the other being fair caught. Of those kicks that were returned, nine did not make it back past the 25 and six not beyond the 20. He connected on 24-of-25 kicks in the four spring scrimmages.

2012 (Soph.) - He saw action in 11 games, and led the team in scoring with 46 points; he didn’t have an opportunity to overly show his talents, attempting only eight field goals all year (made six). His long make was just 37 yards as he had one attempt all year over that distance (a 43-yard try that was blocked against Utah), and he converted all 28 extra-point kicks. He had his first real pressure PAT kick of his career (he had some critical field goal tries as a frosh) when he made the game-winner in CU’s 35-34 win at Washington State. He also made a 30-yared field goal early in the fourth quarter that gave CU a 17-16 lead in the season opener against Colorado State, and drilled a 36-yarder as time expired to pull CU within 20-17 of Arizona State at halftime. He kicked off seven times, with the opponent starting on average at its own 23. He missed the last portion of spring practice due to a chronic shoulder issue, but was deadly before he was sidelined. He made good of 9-of-10 kicks in three main spring scrimmages (he sat out the spring game), with a long of 58 and the average distance of his makes covering 48.6 yards - his miss was from 60 and it was wide left, not short.

2011 (Fr.) - He saw action in 12 games, setting a school record for the most points scored (62) by a freshman in CU history, besting the old mark by 10 points (Mason Crosby scored 52 in 2003). He also set frosh school marks for field goals made (11) and attempted (16) while making good on 29-of-31 PAT kicks. In just his second game, Oliver was named one of the three “Stars of the Week” by the Lou Groza Award, as he kicked four field goals and three extra points in CU’s 36-33 overtime loss to California. He nailed a 32-yarder to send the game into overtime in the final minute, made a 22-yarder to account for CU’s OT scoring, and in the first half, made good on a 52-yard kick that was the longest by a freshman in CU history and the longest in the nation by a true freshman in 2011 (the second-longest by any freshman and just one of three of 50 yards or longer by all frosh; it tied for the 22nd longest in the nation and the third longest in the Pac-12 in 2011). He opened 6-of-6 in field goal attempts, the first player at Colorado to make his first six field goals in a career in a single season (old mark was five by Crosby in 2003). He missed out tying the record for the most consecutive made field goals to start a Buff career (7, by Jeremy Flores, over two seasons, 2000-01); his seventh try was blocked by Washington State as the right side of the FG/PAT unit was overrun on the attempt. He bounced back to make two 48-yard efforts, however, and the average distance of his 11 makes were 37.2 yards. He also made his first 22 career PAT tries before missing wide left against Arizona, though that miss was aided by winds gusting to 60 miles per hour. While just 6-of-10 on field goals inside 40 yards as the four misses were all blocked, he was a very impressive 5-of-6 outside of 40 yards. He became just the seventh true freshman to attempt a placekick in Colorado history, joining Tim Mangnall (1976), Tom Field (1979), Ken Culbertson (1986), Eric Hannah (1987), Mason Crosby (2003) and Justin Castor (2010); he joined Field and Crosby as the only ones to play in the season opener.

HIGH SCHOOL - As a senior, he was ranked the No. 31 kicker in the nation by ESPN, No. 5 from California; kicking “guru” Chris Sailer ranked him as the No. 12 kicking prospect in the country when he was named first-team All-Mission League as a kicker and first-team All-Area as a punter. As a junior, he was a first-team All-Del Ray League performer before his school switched league affiliations. In his prep career, he connected on 18-of-23 field goals and 50-of-50 PAT kicks for 104 total points; his senior season he made 6-of-9 field goals and all 25 extra-point kicks for 43 points. Two of his field goals came from 40-plus yards and his kickoffs resulted in touchbacks 85 percent of the time. He punted for the first time as a senior, averaging 38.0 yards per punt, pinning nine inside-the-20 (with a long of 59). As a junior, he hit 6-of-8 field goals with four makes from 43 yards or longer, including kicks from 51 and 50 yards. He made good on all 10 point after touchdown tries, with 80 percent of his kickoffs resulting in touchbacks. As a sophomore, he was perfect: 6-of-6 on field goals and 15-of-15 PAT’s, for 33 points. He was the National Kicking Event Prep Camp Champion in the summer of 2010, and the year before, he was a two-time finalist in the field goal kicking events at two separate Chris Sailer camps. He also lettered in lacrosse and soccer, the only student at H-W in each of his sophomore, junior and senior seasons to be a three-sport varsity athlete; he was presented with the prestigious Schumacher Award as a senior which is given to the outstanding three-sport performer who contributes the most to the athletic program. In lacrosse, as a crease attack man, he scored a school and a Mission League record 56 goals as a senior (the old mark had been 45), which also included a record nine goals in one game (old mark was six); he was the league MVP leading his team to a 13-1 record, including an 8-0 mark in conference play. As a junior he tallied 31 goals and one assist and was named the team’s offensive most valuable player; as a sophomore, he injured his thumb after just three games but had already scored eight goals. His 95 career foals shattered the old mark of 80 for both H-W and the league. He also lettered in hockey, but for Venice High School because there weren’t enough kids to compose a hockey team at Harvard-Westlake. Prior to settling on those four sports, in middle school he also played water polo, baseball, tennis and ran track.

ACADEMICS - He is majoring in Business (Finance) and is also working toward his Master’s in Accounting on a concurrent basis; he is interested in sports management or sports marketing as a career choice. He was inducted into CU’s prestigious 4.0 GPA club for his perfect mark for the Fall 2013 semester, and has made the Dean’s List for six of seven semesters. He was Colorado’s nomination for one of the 18 prestigious National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete awards; he did not make the finalists but was honored by the NFF as a 2015 Hampshire Society team member. He was the inaugural recipient of the NFF/Colorado Chapter’s Student-Athlete of the Year, awarded for the first time in 2014 for academic and athletic achievement. He earned first-team Pac-12 All-Academic Team honors as a junior with a 3.67 grade point average, and was a second-team selection as a senior and a sophomore. He earned first-team Academic All-Colorado honors from the state’s chapter of the National Football Foundation as a senior (the group’s inaugural team). Following his senior year, he was the recipient of the team’s Dean Jacob Van Ek Award for academic excellence. He was a member of the Honor Roll in high school maintaining above a 3.2 GPA at Harvard-Westlake, which in April 2010 was ranked the No. 12 prep school in the country by Forbes and the top one of its kind west of the Mississippi River.

PERSONAL - He was born November 23, 1992 in Santa Monica, Calif. His hobbies include playing the viola in his school’s symphony orchestra and playing most other sports. His family owned a house until he was 10 years old in Aspen, where he learned to both play hockey and ski. He worked for two years as an usher at the Hollywood Bowl, the famous amphitheater set against the backdrop of the famous Hollywood sign and hills. He also dedicated some of his spare time to the Riviera Foundation and volunteers teaching kids how to play tennis. He requested a switch from No. 91 he wore as a freshman to No. 28 because he is a devout Los Angeles Kings fan; Luc Robitaille, former player and currently in the Kings’ front office, introduced him to Adam Deadmarsh, the one-time Avalanche and former Kings player who wore... No. 28.

SCORING
Season	G	EP	EPA	FG	FGA
2011	12	29	31	11	16
2012	11	28	28	6	8
2013	12	30	30	17	24
2014	12	42	42	16	21
Totals	47	129	131	50	69

FG BREAKDOWN
Season	G	10-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60+	Long	PTS
2011	12	0-0	3-5	3-5	4-5	1-1	0-0	52	62
2012	11	1-1	1-1	4-5	0-1	0-0	0-0	37	46
2013	12	2-2	5-5	4-5	4-7	2-5	0-0	53	81
2014	12	1-1	4-4	7-9	4-7	0-0	0-0	49	90
Totals	47	4-4	13-15	18-24	12-20	3-6	0-0	53	279

ADDITIONAL STATISTICS - Kickoffs: 16 Total, 12 Ret (2011); 7 Total, 5 Ret (2012); 56 Total, 29 Ret (2013); 61 Total, 27 Reg (2014). Special Team Tackles: 1,0--1 (2011); 2,2--4 (2013).