34-year old Marine veteran to handle kickoffs for UVA football

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - The Cavaliers kick off the season Saturday, September 2, in Nashville.

Handling kickoffs for Virginia against Tennessee will be 34-year-old Matt Ganyard. The grad student is enrolled at the Darden School of Business.

Ganyard got his undergrad degree at UVA in history a decade ago. Since then, he spent 10 years in the Marines, got married, and had two kids.

Up until a few months ago, Ganyard had never put on a helmet or football pads.

“I don’t think that it’s fully hit me that I get to be a part of the gameday environment,” he said.

Ganyard was a soccer player in high school, and had tried walking on to Coach Al Groh’s team as an undergrad, but was cut.

He was mostly stationed in San Diego, training younger pilots how to fly attack helicopters, but also kept practicing kicking in the hopes of playing in college.

Now, Ganyard is getting that chance, and says he can consistently hit field goals inside 50 yards.

“Fifty, I feel comfortable with the ball getting there. Outside that, the old man leg factor comes in a little more,” he said.

If he doesn’t kick it far enough, then Ganyard may have to make a tackle.

“I know that’s a real possibility if I don’t put it out of the end zone. I’ve made sure to ask the coaches, ‘Can we teach me how to tackle?’” Ganyard said.

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