Who is Harrison Mevis? Missouri's 'Thiccer Kicker' nails 61-yarder to beat Kansas State

Missouri kicker Harrison Mevis nailed a 61-yard field goal on Saturday to help the Tigers stun No. 15 Kansas State in a thrilling 30-27 win, setting an SEC record in Week 3 of the 2023 college football season.

Mevis' kick was the second-longest field goal in Missouri history, behind Thom Whelihan's 62-yarder in 1986 (in Big 8 Conference play). In the win over the Wildcats, Mevis made 3 of 4 field goal attempts, none more important than the winning kick that spurred a field-storming celebration on Faurot Field.

The kick was the longest in SEC history, eclipsing the previous long of 60 that was set in 1984.

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Who is Harrison Mevis? Missouri's 'Thiccer Kicker'

Mevis became a popular name in college football as Missouri's "Thiccer Kicker," due to his 245-pound frame, an unorthodox build for a football kicker. Mevis was earned the nickname from former Missouri punter Grant McKinniss in the locker room before his freshman season, and it has stuck.

The Indiana native even earned an NIL deal with Columbia’s Campus Bar & Grill, with the monstrous "Thiccer Kicker Burger" named in his honor.

Missouri kicker Harrison Mevis' stats from distance

After Saturday’s walk-off 61-yarder, Mevis is now 11-for-15 from 50 yards or longer over the course of his four seasons at Missouri. His previous career long was from 56 yards.

Before Saturday's winning kick, Mevis had been uncharacteristically inaccurate this season. He missed three of his first six kicks this season, including a 53-yarder early in the second quarter that would have stretched the Tigers’ lead to 13-7.

Who had held the SEC record?

Mevis' historic kick Saturday broke an SEC record of 60 yards, set most recently in 1984 by Florida's Chris Perkins and Georgia's Kevin Butler. The first 60-yarder in conference history came from Tennessee's Fuad Reveiz in 1982. In a 2017 story, AL.com identified the mark as one of 15 SEC records "that will never be broken," identifying it as such because the kicks from Perkins, Butler and Reveiz came with the ball placed on a flat tee, a practice that was banned in 1989.