Parkey trying to stay perfect

Since fall camp the Auburn coaches have preached consistency and finishing. Despite their pleas, the Tigers have come up short so far. But one Tiger has been as consistent as they come. Perfect in fact.

“I never want to miss,” said kicker Cody Parkey. “It’s terrible feeling and we only get so many chances a game to do what we do so we want to be perfect every time we go on the field.”

Parkey is 7-for-7 on field goals this season with a career-long of 46 yards that came in the season opener against Clemson. Named to the pre-season Lou Groza watch list, the award for best kicker in the nation, Parkey is one of 13 kickers who remain perfect on the season.

“I’m just really focused going into games,” Parkey said. “I have a year under my belt and it feels comfortable out there. Obviously we still have a lot of football left and I want to continue to go perfect. So I’m just really, really practicing hard and I just want to give my team the best chance to win so I need to keep making my kicks.”

Last season, Parkey also started 7-for-7 but ended the year 13-for-18. He went 6-for-9 from over 40 yards last season and is 2-for-2 from 40-plus this year. Parkey has never attempted a kick over the 50 yard mark and while he hasn’t got the opportunity, he is ready to set a new career-long.

“I feel comfortable 55 yards and in,” Parkey said. “(The coaches) give me 50 yards in practice and I can easily make those with ease. Really just all depends on the wind.”

With a struggling offense, the Tigers need Parkey to remain flawless against the Razorbacks on Saturday. He did not get an opportunity to kick in last year’s 38-14 loss.

“Obviously Arkansas and ourselves aren’t where we want to be so far this season,” Parkey said. “It’s a big game for us to go in and exploit what we see in Arkansas, special teams especially, we feel like we can dominate the game again like we’ve been doing. So if we keep continuing to have success in special teams just give our team the best chance to win.”