It seems like yesterday that kicker Scott Bentley, a brash freshman from Aurora, Colo., arrived at Florida State with the burden of correcting a couple of costly “wide rights” and win a national championship.
He opened his senior season against Duke by contributing 14 points to a 44-7 Seminoles’ victory with field goals of 23, 39 and 41 yards and five extra points.
“It’s important for me to have a good year for myself,” Bentley said. “I’ve always tried to have a good season for somebody else – the fans, the coaches – always somebody but me. This season is for me.”
Bentley has gone through some adversities during his four years at Florida State, some personal and some football, but he’s managed to rebound from each.
“He may have had more pressure than any kid we’ve had come to Florida State,” coach Bobby Bowden said. “He was going to be the savior of Florida State football. In the beginning, he probably wasn’t as good as we expected or he expected. I can say he’s never missed a kick we had to have.”
When Bentley reflects on his career, he wouldn’t change anything about it beginning with appearing on Sports Illustrated’s preseason football edition as a freshman.
“It was the chance of a lifetime,” Bentley said. “It was a chance to make history. No other freshman had done it before. The expectations were real high, and by going it, I didn’t do anything to lessen them.”
In his mind, Bentley has done what he was supposed to do when he was recruited.
“I was recruited to win the national championship and make pressure kicks,” Bentley said. “We won the national championship” – 18-16 over Nebraska in the 1994 FedEx Orange Bowl, a game where Bentley kicked four field goals including the 22-yard winner with 21 seconds left.
People say I was supposed to be perfect. They’ve said I was overrated. Who were the people saying I was overrated and what did they know? We won the national championship so I met the expectations of others.”
In the beginning, the kicks that Bentley missed didn’t seem important. There wasn’t much talk about the short ones, and he didn’t think about them. After missing field goals of 32 and 28 yards in the first half of the Clemson game in 1994, Bentley was benched in favor of senior Dan Mowrey.
He didn’t regain his job until 1995, but he hasn’t forgotten being booed after missing his first extra point against Wake Forest on Oct. 14 He hasn’t missed one since and is currently at 40 straight.
“I don’t owe the fans anything, and they don’t owe me anything. They don’t know what it takes to be a player,” Bentley said. “I’ve been through the dumps a couple of times during my career and fought my way through it. I learned a long the way that every kick counts, not just the the big ones and that’s why I felt good about my start against Duke.”
Bentley spent the offseason adding to his physical appearance by a serious weightlifting program.
“There’s a lot more to being a kicker than just kicking the ball,” Bentley said, “and I wanted to do something give my physical appearance the same outward look of strength that I believe my mental toughness has.”
Bentley is hoping a solid final season will bring some opportunities to kick at the professional level.
“My leg is strong, and my accuracy is good and getting better,” Bentley said. “If opportunities are there, I’m prepared to show the pros what I can do.”
For his career, Bentley is 151 of 163 extra points and 29 of 46 field goals. He would have preferred to make them all. He expects to make them all.
“That’s really the only way to think,” he said, “but what I’d really like to do this season is not miss any kicks that I should make. If can do it, I’ll feel great.”
Most important, Bentley will go through his senior season not concerned about how he’s rated by someone else.
“When I came to Florida State, what other people said and thought about me shaped my entire existence,” Bentley said. “I was a young high school kid, and I didn’t know any better. It stayed that way until I realized I’m not playing for them or what they’ve said or are going to say. I’m playing for me, something I wish I had realized a long time ago.”
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Wrote by: Craig Barnes
Published by: Sun-Sentinel
Published on: September 15, 1996