Alex Kessman is a record-setting kicker for Pitt. He has seven career field goals of 50+ yards. Kessman’s 55-yard boot last season against Syracuse is the longest field goal in Heinz Field history - college or NFL. It’s fair to say he arguably has the strongest kicking leg in Pitt history.

So it was a bit surprising when the junior from Michigan started the year 4-of-10 on his field goal attempts. Maybe most notably, he missed a 19-yarder against Penn State late in the fourth quarter that would have cut the deficit in that game. Kessman has worked through his issues, and since October has hit he is now 10-of-11 on his field goal attempts.

Kessman attributed his better kicking of late is paying attention to the game less. It might sound weird, but Kessman is focused on his job and his job only - not what’s happening on the field of play.

“I have to pay attention to what I’m doing,” Kessman told reporters during the bye week. “I don’t really focus on the game anymore. I talked to a sports physiologist and I have been since I was a freshman and that was part of his thing and if you talk to probably any NFL kicker they don’t even know what’s going on in the game because that’s now their job and my job is to put the ball through the uprights and that’s what I try to focus on. Score of the game, how big the kick is - it’s not really my issue. I’ve got to go out there and make every kick that they send me me out there for.”

When asked if he even knows the score, Kessman laughed that off and relented that he of course knows the score, but does not get caught up in the moment as much as he was earlier in the season.

“I had to really reel it back a little bit and focus on what I need to do and it was a stepping stone for me as a person and as a player to focus on what I had to do and then go out there and execute it,” he said.

Pitt’s been in a lot of pressure situations this season. Pitt’s six wins have all been by 10-points or less, and all three losses have been tight as well. It’s been a close game seemingly every week for Pitt, and special teams coordinator Andre Powell isn’t worried about his kicker in those pressure packed situations.

“Kessman is a pretty level-headed,” he said. “He’s a competitor and he’s been in a lot of competitive situations going back to high school, he’s got some boxing experience - he’s a tough guy, so I don’t think it bothers him at all.”

The Pitt kicker is learning to try so simplify things, even with the game on the line.

“I try to downgrade everything, every kick if that makes any sense,” Kessman said on how he maintains focus under pressure. "When I go out there it’s one play. It’s fourth down, I have one play to put the ball through the uprights, I don’t have another go at it, which can be stressful. So I try to really relax myself, downplay the situation. It’s just another kick, one kick at a time, do your thing, game winner or not. I have to do my job and put the ball through the uprights.”

Kessman credits his teammates for being able to stay cool in pressure situations, especially holder Kirk Christodoulou and long snapper Cal Adomitis.

“The kid is attached at my hip,” Kessman said of Christodoulou. “I mean everywhere we go: I live with him, my locker is next to him, he’s my best friend. It helps that that’s my dude out there. Cal is the same way. Our unit is pretty tight. But it helps my nerves looking down and seeing Kirk.”

Kessman understands kicking is not an easy job, and that even the best ones miss them. Putting kicks behind him is something he prides himself on, so he can be ready for the next one.

“Everyone misses. Everyone misses, every kicker has missed, even Justin Tucker and Justin Tucker’s probably one of the best to ever kick the ball,” Kessman explained. “It happens. You try to be as consistent as possible. Even in practice you take hundreds of thousands os steps in the exact same way: three steps back, two steps over and you try to do it consistently and you try to have the same pace to the ball as you possibly can and sometimes you hit the ball different, sometimes the snap is a little bit weird, sometimes the hold is a little bit weird, sometimes you kick the ball weird - it happens.”

Kessman added, “To put a kick behind you says a lot about you. It’s tough to, but if you can it’s what makes you different than other kickers.”