Kicker Gavin Baechle Leaving His Mark on the UTEP Record Books

Gavin Baechle is closing in on a career milestone. The senior kicker has his sights set on the all-time UTEP record for most field goals made. Baechle sits at 47 and trails Reagan Schneider by just three. He also has 92 PATs for his career but he still trails both Schneider and Jay Mattox for the career mark (tied with 137). Although he will not catch them for the PATs record, there is an excellent chance that Baechle will set the field goal record as soon as Saturday against Louisiana Tech.

It has been a terrific five years for the native of McKinney, Texas. Baechle served as a kickoff specialist during his freshman season, but he took over as UTEP's primary field goal kicker in 2019. He went on to connect on 13 of 16 field goals and he made all of his 22 PATs. That landed him Honorable Mention honors for All-Conference USA. Baechle's 2020 season was cut short due to COVID and he once again was named Honorable Mention All-C-USA last season.

In 2022, he has twice been named the league's top special teams player of the week. On the season, Baechle is first in Conference USA with 11 made field goals and ranks third nationally. He is 11-for-12 on the season and leads C-USA in field goals made per game (1.8). His 91.7 percent (11-12) ranks third in C-USA. Baechle also ranks fifth in C-USA with 46 total points (11 FG, 13 XP), while his 7.7 points per game ranks tied eighth in C-USA.

Baechle should have plenty of opportunities to finish his career with more Miner milestones. Life as a kicker is tough. Especially when punters and kickers do not get the glory like the rest of the team. However, Baechle has proven that he belongs with some of the best legs and best players in the history of the UTEP football program.