By SCOTT CARTER
GatorZone.com Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – They hang out together a lot during practice, often isolated from the rest of the team while honing their craft. So you can imagine some of the trash talking that takes place.
Gators long snapper Chris Guido says senior punter Chas Henry has nearly as much mouth as leg.
“He is so competitive of a person,’’ said Guido, who long snaps on punts. “He’s an athlete. He’s got a heck of an arm and he’s pretty fast.’’
One of Henry’s favorite targets in practice is starting kicker Caleb Sturgis, one of his best friends on the team. Sturgis kicked 22 field goals last season as a sophomore, including a career-long 56-yarder. But when Henry is around, Sturgis and the rest of the kicking group knows it.
They hear him.
“He used to mess around with Sturg some in summer workouts, maybe talk a little (trash),’’ Guido said. “Stuff like, ‘Hey, I can kick field goals, too.’ He’s obviously done a great job with punting.’’
UF’s starting punter for four seasons, Henry finally got his chance to kick field goals last week at Alabama. He nailed a pair of them, a 39-yarder in the first half and a 21-yarder on the Gators’ first drive of the second half.
Henry wasn’t the least worried when he lined up for the 39-yard attempt late in the second quarter, his first field goal attempt since his final season at East Paulding High in Dallas, Ga.
“I was fine,’’ he said. “We worked with the holder and long snapper the whole time. They did a great job. I knew I was going to make it when we went out there.’’
The reason the Gators needed Henry to kick field goals was because Sturgis suffered a back injury that will also keep him out of Saturday’s game against LSU. Henry will pull double duty once more.
Henry aced his first test as the Gators’ dual-threat leg. Since 1996, no player has recorded a better single-game punting average – Henry averaged 62.3 yards on three punts against the Crimson Tide – while also making multiple field goals in the same game.
Henry’s best punt at Alabama was a career-high 75-yarder than pinned Alabama at its own 2 in the second quarter.
“If we had won the game, his contributions would have probably been player-of-gamish,’’ Gators coach Urban Meyer said.
Guido watched from the sideline as John Fairbanks, the long snapper on field goals, delivered the ball to holder John Crofoot. Henry’s kick sailed perfectly through the middle of the uprights.
“He is very consistent from a comfortable distance,’’ Guido said. “He’s got a strong leg, too. He can kick a 50-, 55-yarder if he had to. He hit it well in practice, so it didn’t surprise me he did well in the game.’’
Henry arrived at UF after setting numerous school records at East Paulding, including punt (66 yards) and longest field goal (52 yards). He was also the Raiders’ starting quarterback, passing for more than 1,700 yards and 17 touchdowns as a senior.
At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, Henry has a good enough arm and is athletic enough that quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler often had Henry take a few snaps behind starter Tim Tebow and backup John Brantley last season just in case of an emergency. However, punting is where Henry has excelled enough to be considered a potential NFL draft pick next spring.
He leads the SEC with a 49.1 average, which would be good enough for second in the nation behind Trevor Hankins of Arizona State if Henry had enough punts to qualify. Of Henry’s 14 punts this season, six have landed inside the 20.
“Whenever I can help the defense out and put them in a better situation, I feel like that’s my job and what I’m here to do,’’ Henry said. “That’s what we’re supposed to do. We’re supposed to put them down there.’’
“One of the things that Coach Meyer really stresses is field position,’’ Guido added. “The fact that Chas can flip the field the way he does, it’s almost like part of our game plan.’’
While his performance at Alabama was one of the best of his career, his favorite play in the game may have been knocking Alabama punt returner Julio Jones out of bounds on a return.
The two appeared to exchange words after the play.
“He got a good bit of yards on me,’’ Henry said. “We kind of said a few things for a second.’’
More evidence that Henry is not your typical punter.
