Count on him: Erik Sandvik finds his footing at Wyoming

Kickers are people too.

Years ago, Utah kicker Andy Phillips put that reminder on my radar. It became a fun rallying cry for the guys whose work tends to get taken for granted right up until a football goes somewhere it shouldn’t. It even earned its own hashtag on Twitter.

I brought it up to Erik Sandvik after Wyoming’s overtime win at San Jose State on Oct. 9. The Cowboys’ kicker had made every field goal he had attempted that season, including the one that had just sent his teammates into celebration.

“I mean, honestly, it wasn’t that hard of a kick,” Sandvik said.

You will learn that modesty is one of Sandvik’s endearing qualities.

The winner was from 21 yards. The distance was manageable. The consequences were considerably larger. Wyoming had arrived in San Jose at 2-3, a week removed from being shut out at North Dakota State. Sandvik’s kick delivered a 16-13 victory and started a winning streak that has now reached four games.

The latest installment came this past weekend in Las Vegas, where the Cowboys held off UNLV 41-35 to become bowl eligible for the first time under Jay Sawvel and the first time since 2023. Wyoming is 6-3 overall, 5-1 in Mountain West play and alone in second place in the conference.

A month ago, the Cowboys were trying to get their season moving. Now they have a postseason destination to look forward to and a conference race to help settle.

Sandvik has been doing his part to keep the itinerary interesting.

He made all three field goals in San Jose, connecting from 38 and 29 yards before the overtime finish. With his extra point, he accounted for 10 of Wyoming’s 16 points and earned Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Week honors.

Against UNLV, he went 2-for-2 on field goals and 5-for-5 on extra points, contributing 11 points. His 43-yarder broke a 7-7 tie in the first quarter. His 35-yarder as the first half expired turned a late interception into three more points.

Two field goals. Six points. A six-point victory.

That arithmetic deserves a little attention, too.

“I don’t worry about the scoreboard though,” Sandvik shared. “I just go out there and kick the ball.”

See ball. Kick ball.

That mantra sounds oddly familiar.

This fall has offered plenty of reasons to appreciate the players who execute in high-pressure situations. Through Week 10, Texas A&M’s David Olano was 16-for-17 on field goals, including 4-for-4 from at least 50 yards, with a long of 57. Fresno State’s Manaki Watanabe was 15-for-18, also perfect on four attempts from 50-plus yards. His September visit to San Jose State included makes from 52, 51, 44 and 40 yards.

The punters have supplied their own arguments. When Texas A&M’s Tyler White was named to the Ray Guy Award midseason watch list on Nov. 5, he was averaging 49.4 yards per punt, with 17 of his 29 attempts traveling at least 50 yards.

Wyoming has a pretty good example in its own specialist room. Bart Edmiston averaged 55 yards on three punts against UNLV, all three traveling at least 50 yards. Through nine games, the Cowboys were averaging 48.7 yards per punt.

There is a lot to appreciate about a player who can leave an opponent a longer field, or salvage points from a drive that has run out of answers.

For a team working its way out of a stumbling start, those contributions can keep a game within reach long enough for something to change.

In Wyoming’s case, the importance was right there in the arithmetic in San Jose. Sandvik supplied points the Cowboys could not afford to leave behind.

But the person behind those points had taken a much longer route to that moment than a 21-yard kick suggested.

Sandvik played soccer through his senior year of high school in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He said he did not begin working with a kicking coach until after his junior year. He tried camps. Nothing came of them.

College football was a wisp or a dream.

“I was planning on just going to CU Boulder to just go to school,” he said.

Then came Wyoming’s specialist camp, where Sandvik said he went 10-for-10 and earned an opportunity to join a program that already had John Hoyland.

A perfect day got him a chance. The next few years taught him what to do with it.

He redshirted in 2023 and backed up Hoyland in 2024. Last season, his first as Wyoming’s starting kicker, he finished 6-for-11 on field goals with a long of 41 yards.

That makes what he’s done this fall worth a little extra attention.

Sandvik made his first eight attempts through the San Jose State game, then two more against Northern Illinois. His first miss came against Air Force on Oct. 23. He responded in Las Vegas by making both attempts.

Through nine games, he is 12-for-13 on field goals, converting 92.3% of his attempts, and 23-for-23 on extra points. That adds up to 59 points.

The perfect streak ended. The progress didn’t disappear with it.

A year after making six field goals all season, Sandvik has doubled that total with three regular-season games remaining. The kicker who once planned to head to Boulder as a student has become someone Wyoming can send onto the field with a game waiting to be decided.

His explanation for that development involves a little conversation.

With himself.

“So in my head, I count my steps back,” Sandvik said.

One, two, three moving backward. One, two to the side. A look at the uprights.

“Stay smooth. Look at the ball.”

Those are the instructions. The routine gives him a sequence to follow when everyone else is thinking about what happens next.

There is something wonderfully unglamorous about it. The game-winning moment is built out of steps, reminders and repetitions that never make a highlight reel.

It also requires other people.

Long snapper Nathan Curry and holder Gavyn Helm have work to do before Sandvik gets to finish his. Their names rarely receive the same attention as the player credited with the points, but Sandvik knows how much depends on them.

“I trust both of them,” he said. “Being able to trust them makes my job super easy.”

There is that word again.

The operation works well enough that the guy at the end can describe it as easy. That is a compliment to everyone involved.

The celebration, however, could use a little more preparation.

“We need to come up with a better handshake,” Sandvik admitted after the San Jose State win.

A reasonable action item for the next special teams meeting. Four consecutive wins should at least provide some opportunities to practice.

Wyoming’s larger turnaround has been built on getting more of those individual jobs right. After averaging 14.2 points over their first five games, the Cowboys have averaged 31.5 during their four-game winning streak, scoring 41 twice.

The UNLV finish required contributions from across the roster. Starting quarterback Tyler Hughes missed the second half with an injury. Tyson Shamsid-Deen intercepted a pass in the end zone with 50 seconds left, and Wyoming’s running game helped put the result away.

Sandvik had already supplied his 11 points. Edmiston had delivered his three long punts. The defense and offense finished the work.

“Our players stayed in it and executed at the most critical time,” Sawvel said in Wyoming’s postgame report.

The Cowboys still have UTEP, New Mexico, and UConn on the regular-season schedule. Bowl eligibility is secured. There is more to play for.

And Sandvik helped supply some of the confidence that got them here.

After the San Jose State win, he credited the offense for putting him in position and the defense for its stops. Asked about leadership within the specialist group, he described a collective approach.

“We all take each other’s opinions into consideration, and we all respect each other.”

That is the part worth remembering when the conversation turns to whether a kick should be automatic.

There is a person taking those steps back. There are two more handling the snap and hold. There are years of work behind a few seconds that everyone watching expects to go perfectly.

Sandvik knows what a miss feels like. He also knows what it feels like to give his teammates a reason to celebrate.

He feels it all, because kickers are people too.