The holder: Tyler Stovall plays significant role for Auburn

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Nov. 16, 2017

By Greg Ostendorf
AuburnTigers.com

AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Daniel Carlson knows a thing or two about awards. The Auburn kicker has been a Lou Groza Award finalist each of the past two seasons, and this year, the senior is up for just about every award or honor under the sun.

But Carlson knows who the real star is. Sure, Daniel is the one who has made 88 career field goals, an SEC record, and it's his 456 career points that make him the SEC's all-time scoring leader and put him at No. 7 all-time nationally. But on every one of his kicks, somebody has to receive the snap and put the ball down just the way he likes it.

For the past four years, with the exception of a handful of PATs, that man has been Tyler Stovall.

"First of all, as far as I'm concerned, every kick that I've made, he's just as much a part of," Carlson said. "We've broken a couple SEC records this year ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" career records for scoring, career records for field goals made ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" and he's been a part of every single one of those. He's definitely the best holder in SEC history, and he should go down in the history books.

"I think they should have a little asterisk under my name where it says 'Career points scored: Daniel Carlson, held by Tyler Stovall.'"

That's why Carlson is Stovall's biggest advocate for this year's Peter Mortell Holder of the Year Award. That and he's probably running out of room in his own trophy room.

There's just one problem. If the Mortell Award voters are looking for someone who's active on social media, Stovall probably isn't their guy. The fifth-year senior, known to teammates as "Papa Stove," turns 28 next month. He came to Auburn in 2013 after playing minor league baseball since 2008, and he is currently the oldest player in the SEC.

"He's a little old-school," Carlson said. "His wife has Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. Every once in a while, he'll take a peek on her Facebook, but that's about it. He doesn't worry too much about that. It's past his time, he says."

But if the Mortell Award voters are looking for the guy who can receive the snap and get it down as fast as possible with a team full of defenders coming after you, Stovall is the perfect candidate. The guy's been doing it for years, and if you wonder why you might have never heard his name before, it's because he's doing his job.

"A lot of people don't realize how quick a kick has to be kicked," Carlson said. "You have about 1.3 seconds tops to get it off between the snap and when I kick the ball. The snap takes about half a second, maybe a little more, so Tyler has a little over half a second to catch the ball, put it down on the right spot, spin it, tilt it, and get everything just right. I have a split second to actually see the ball, so the faster he gets it down, the easier it makes my job."

"It's definitely an underrated position, but it's something we've repeated millions of times. By now, I have complete confidence in his abilities. Even if it's a wet game, high snap, low snap, whatever, I know he's going to put it exactly where I need it."

Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @greg_ostendorf