Before he became one of the heroes of the opening weekend of the college football season, Hawaii kicker Kansei Matsuzawa was scouring YouTube for videos that would help him learn how to kick.
Matsuzawa was at a low point in his life after high school when his father gave him a plane ticket to the United States. During his trip, the Chiba Prefecture native, who spoke no English, was introduced to football at an NFL game between the then-Oakland Raiders and Los Angeles Rams. The sport was still on his mind after he returned home. That was when he set a goal of reaching the NFL.
That set him off on the unique path that led to his heroics last Saturday, when he made a 38-yard field goal as time expired to give Hawaii a dramatic 23-20 win over Stanford in the team’s season opener. The Rainbow Warriors’ victory over the ACC’s Cardinal was their first over a power conference team since 2019.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.