Kicker Atticus Sappington on leaving Oregon State for Oregon football: ‘Time to move on’

Oregon needed a new kicker, Atticus Sappington wanted a new team.

Seemed like a logical match — except for one thing.

Sappington, one of the best kickers in the Pac-12 last season for Oregon State, wasn’t just transferring from any old team, he was coming from the Ducks’ main rival, or as Oregon special teams coach Joe Lorig put Thursday afternoon, “the school up the road.”

That didn’t keep Sappington from making the jump, nor did it prevent the Ducks from trying to upgrade their talent at the position following the graduation of longtime starter Camden Lewis, who left as the team’s all-time scoring leader.

“Coach Lorig really made me feel welcome here and the team was really open arms,” Sappington said. “Really, I just feel at home.”

Sappington led the Pac-12 and ranked fifth nationally in field-goal percentage at 92.86% last season, converting on 13-of-14 attempts.

He made 5-of-6 field goals from 40-49 yards, was 5-of-5 from 30 to 39 yards, and 3-of-3 from 20 to 29 yards. His career long is 48 yards. Sappington also converted 49-of-50 extra-point attempts.

In his Oregon State career, he was 18-of-21 on field-goal attempts and 64-of-66 on PATs. 

“It’s good to have a guy that you know has done it at this level,” Lorig said. “A lot of guys can go out and kick off the sticks when there’s no real pressure going on, but he’s done it in big games, in some of the stadiums that we’ll play in. … He’s really got a mentality that you need to have to be good at his position.”

Sappington entered the transfer portal when the Beavers’ season ended and coach Jonathan Smith left Corvallis for Michigan State.

The junior from Portland who attended Central Catholic was thrilled to stay in state.

”It was time to move on and I couldn’t be more excited to be here and be a part of the team,” Sappington said.

Sappington has impressed Lorig, as well as the team’s strength and conditioning staff with his dedication in the weight room since arriving in Eugene. 

“He’s kind of a weight room guy, which is kind of unusual for kickers,” Lorig said. “It can be valuable to that position or not. More importantly, it’s the work ethic. He’s a competitor.”

Listed at 5-10, 188 pounds by Oregon State last season, Sappington said he’s been lifting weights since he was 15 and described it as one of his hobbies.

“I want to be a big guy,” he said. “I don’t want to have that classic stereotype of the ‘skinny kicker.’ I want to look like a football player and I take pride in how I look.”

Sappington hasn’t been handed the job at Oregon. The competition to replace Lewis remains in progress with redshirt freshman Grant Meadors, one of the top kickers in the nation coming out of high school in 2023. Freshman and early enrollee Gage Hurych out of West Linn is getting a shot too, while also getting work in with the punters.

Follow Chris Hansen on X @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.