Nobody would have blamed Jeremy Licea if he had been a little wary when Alabama A&M traveled to Tennessee State last Saturday night.
After all, LP Field served as a house or horrors for Licea last season.
Making his first career start, Licea had two extra points and a field goal blocked, though A&M won 27-20.
The Bulldogs didn't need any field goals from Licea this time, but the sophomore made all seven of his extra points as A&M whipped TSU 49-23.
"That was a much better start," Licea said. "Hopefully, I can keep it up."
Actually, Licea rebounded nicely last season from his early problems, but it took him practically the whole year.
His problems started before he signed with the Bulldogs. During Christmas of 2005, Licea learned he was diabetic. Over the next eight months, he lost about 50 pounds, dropping him to 130 pounds.
Licea lost valuable strength along with the weight.
"There were a lot of things he had to adjust to," A&M coach Anthony Jones said. "He came straight from high school and we had to use him the very first ballgame. He had been sick and lost a bunch of weight. He had to get used to kicking off the ground. He had to get used to bigger bodies, which means he had to get the ball up higher."We felt like we had signed a good kicker in Jeremy, but in a perfect world, he probably would have been redshirted. We didn't have that luxury."
Licea struggled the following week against Grambling when he missed another extra point, but he bounced back and kicked a 20-yard field goal in overtime in a 30-27 win.
After that, he only attempted one more field goal the rest of the regular season, but Licea improved dramatically on extra points. After making only 12 of 18 through A&M's first six games, he made 13 of his last 14.
"I've always been very accurate," Licea said. "I've lost strength, but I've still got my accuracy."
Licea proved that in last year's Southwestern Athletic Conference title game. He made three field goals to help A&M beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 22-13.
"I got some opportunities and I took advantage of them," said Licea, who reported for fall practice weighing 147 pounds. "It felt really good because people were doubting me the whole year. To come through felt really good."
Licea's resilience impressed Jones.
"Once we set his limits, he kept working and made some big pressure kicks when we absolutely had to have them," he said. "We wouldn't have beaten Grambling without him. We wouldn't have won the SWAC championship without him. He's proved his value to this football team."
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