Troy kicker disproves doubters

TROY — Troy head coach Larry Blakeney sometimes gets messages from parents of prospective walk-ons.

These were a little different. Maybe not in a good way.

Sam Glusman was a 135-pound kicker from Mobile who was dead on with his kicks from a 2-inch tee, but his 40-yard max distance didn’t get a sniff from college coaches.

So, walking on at Troy was the best option.

“His dad is a great guy and he’s friends with the chancellor (Dr. Jack Hawkins),” Blakeney said.
“Dr. Glusman e-mailed me and he copied the chancellor on every one of them.

“Finally, I got tired of it and e-mailed him back.

“I said ‘We were going to give Sam a chance, he’s a great kid, we think he’s got a chance, blah blah blah, but the chancellor’s got a university to run, so please don’t e-mail him any more.’ ”

It only cemented Blakeney’s belief that Glusman wouldn’t ever contribute to the team.

“I didn’t think he had a chance,” Blakeney said.

Boy, was he ever wrong.

Glusman eventually earned a scholarship. The 175-pounder increased his squat and power clean (for explosion on kicks) by almost 100 pounds.
Now a junior, Glusman held off redshirt freshman Michael Taylor and won the job to replace four-year starter Greg Whibbs.

He’s turned what was a major question mark into what is now a consistent factor among a team in the mix for another Sun Belt championship. Glusman now ranks among the conference’s best kickers and hasn’t missed a field goal in 11 tries.

He’ll put that to the test Saturday when Troy (4-2, 3-0 Sun Belt) travels to North Texas (0-7, 0-3) for a 6 p.m. game.

“I like being proved wrong,” Blakeney said. “I couldn’t be more proud of anybody than Sam Glusman.

“He’s just a little old wormy guy that came in here from a little old private school and wanted to kick.”

Glusman walked on in 2005 and sought guidance from former kickers Whibbs, Thomas Olmsted and Jason Wright.
“I kept with it,” Glusman said. “I had (those guys) showing me how to work out and how to add muscle and weight. They were really coaching me up since I got here.”

Glusman’s consistency helped him win the job from Taylor, who now is Troy’s kickoff specialist. He’s been nearly perfect, but he thought his first miss wouldn’t come on an extra point like it did in last week’s 33-23 win over FIU.

He actually missed a 47-yard field goal on Troy’s opening drive, but never saw where it missed.

There was a reason for that.

“I got hit hard,” Glusman said. “I’m not going to lie — I haven’t been hit like that since I’ve been playing. All I knew is that right when I kicked it, my leg was going up and I landed on my back.”

The obvious roughing the kicker penalty was called. Troy scored a touchdown, but a shaky Glusman doinked his extra point try off the upright.

“It sounds like a heartbreak right there,” Glusman said. “(Thoughts were) Wow, I just did that. I was still shaken with it and thinking ‘I got to go faster,’ and I went too fast and just jammed myself.”

Glusman recovered, nailing his next extra point try. Later, he hit from 48 yards, a season long, and from 20 yards. Four of his 11 field goals have been from 40 or more yards out.

“I don’t make an issue out of (a missed extra point),” special teams coach Shayne Wasden said. “I say, ‘All right you’ve got that out of the way, let’s don’t miss any more.’

“He bounced back and made some good kicks after that.”

He’s second in the Sun Belt in scoring, and in accuracy. Arkansas State’s Josh Arauco still hasn’t missed in 15 field goal tries and 26 extra points.

With that, people see him away from the field and still don’t know that he’s a football player — so far, a good one at that.

“You couldn’t point me out,” Glusman said. “Nobody could point me out, and that doesn’t bother me.”

But when the Trojans need three big points, coaches sure know where to go.

“Sam got a lot more consistent, and he started kicking with confidence,” Wasden said. “Heading into the season, he’s really exceeded expectations.”