So, in a way, it’s as if the Miami Hurricanes traded kicker Bubba Baxa for quarterback D’Eriq King.
The UM kicker of the past two seasons announced on Friday night that Houston will be his transfer destination — after the Hurricanes landed the star dual-threat signal caller from the Cougars earlier in the offseason.
“Grateful for the opportunity!” Baxa wrote from a new Twitter account created in January. “#GoCoogs”
It’s a homecoming for Baxa with the Houston campus a 20-minute drive from his high school, Pasadena Memorial.
Baxa struggled as a sophomore at Miami last season, making just 5 of 10 field goals, with three of the misses coming from within 30 yards. He also missed two extra-point tries.
The misses played a large role in UM starting 3-4 in 2019. It prompted Hurricanes coach Manny Diaz to first shuffle walk-on Turner Davidson in for place-kicking duties with Baxa midseason, then turn to former walk-on Camden Price for the remainder of the season and finally hit the transfer portal to land Jose Borregales from FIU for his final season of eligibility.
Following Borregales’ transfer in — and with younger brother Andres Borregales of Chaminade-Madonna committed in Miami’s 2021 recruiting class — Baxa first entered the transfer portal in January.
With a powerful leg, Baxa last season remained on kickoff duties, an area where he excelled despite his struggles on place kicks. On 65 kickoffs, he averaged 63.6 yards per kick and recorded 36 touchbacks.
As a freshman in 2018, Baxa went 9 of 12 on field goals and 45 of 46 on extra points for the Hurricanes.
