Just take a deep breath, find your spot, take two steps back, take one more breath and kick.
It’s as simple as that for senior kicker Logan Justus who had three career- long field goals as he went 4-4 in IU’s 34-24 victory over Ball State University.
“Clutch,” IU head coach Tom Allen said. “Some guys just have the innate ability to come through when it counts, when the pressure is on, and some guys have the opposite of that. He was awesome today.”
Clutch was the perfect word to describe Justus’ performance. Nothing seemed to phase the Mt. Vernon High School product as he stood on the field staring down the goalposts.
With 9:34 in the first quarter Justus trotted onto the field for his first field goal attempt of the game, a 48-yarder. Before Saturday’s opener against Ball State, Justus’ longest field goal had been 44 yards last season against Rutgers in New Brunswik, New Jersey.
“I get excited,” Justus said. “Just have to stay calm and just see every single kick as just another kick and not adding extra pressure.”
There was plenty of extra pressure that could have been put on the kick. Having it be the first field goal attempt of the season, kicking in an NFL stadium or just the natural pressure that comes with the position. Instead, Justus would calmly line up the kick and pick his spot to aim .
“There was this little chair,” Justus said. “I always try to find these little things to see and just remember. It was different than the others, with some white on it.”
Justus hit his target dead on — if there wasn’t a net stopping the ball from going into the stands — as the ball sailed through the middle of the uprights with plenty of room to spare.
The kicker from McCordsville, Indiana,continued to top himself throughout the afternoon as he would go on to drain field goals from 49 and then 50 yards out that sealed the deal for the Hoosiers giving them a two-score advantage.
“It’s really important to me to do my own job because they do go and do their own jobs,” Justus said.
To help do his job better, Justus put in a lot of work in the offseason that helped him earn the starting position. He put a lot of hours in the weight room working alongside the team’s strength and conditioning coach David Ballou which increased his leg strength and extended his range to gain confidence at the farther reaches.
Justus claimed he consistently told the coaching staff that he was confident from 56 to 58 yards out but was willing to push that distance a little farther depending on the conditions. With that type of confidence at the longer ranges, it’s very possible that his career long numbers will continue to grow as the season plays on.
“After each one I kept telling the coaches, 'Let's keep it rolling,’” Justus said.
