Paul Woodside

Paul Woodside (born September 2, 1963) is an American football placekicker who played college football at West Virginia University where he earned first-team All-America honors and set numerous placekicking and scoring records. In 2008, Woodside was featured in the book A Few Seconds of Panic by Stefan Fatsis.

Woodside attended Falls Church High School in Falls Church, Virginia, graduating in 1981. He practiced "soccer-style" kicking in high school. As a young man, Woodside spoke with a severe stutter.

Woodside enrolled at West Virginia University and joined the football team as a walk-on placekicker in 1981. As a four-year letter winner for the football team, Woodside established himself as one of the best placekickers in the nation and the finest in West Virginia University's history. He was known for his many eccentricities, including drawing patterns on his shoes with a magic marker, constant activity on the sideline during games, and practicing his kicks on the field facing the wrong direction. He was also known for having very poor vision, reportedly not being able to see the goal posts clearly on his longer kick attempts.

In 1982, Woodside set the NCAA Division I football record for the most field goals made in a season (28), a record that has been surpassed by four players. The current record is 31 (Billy Bennett, Georgia, 2003). Woodside set and still holds several NCAA records, including:

Woodside holds many career and single-season kicking and scoring records at West Virginia University, including:

After beating two scholarship kickers for the starting job, Woodside finished the season fourth in total scoring with 34 points. Woodside was successful in eight out of 12 field goal attempts and 10 out of 11 extra points. WVU finished the season with a record of 9-3, including a win in the Peach Bowl over Florida. In the bowl game, Woodside kicked four field goals, including a 49-yard field goal, second-longest in WVU history at the time and currently among the longest field goals in WVU history. The team finished the season with top-20 rankings in both national polls.

As the full-time placekicker for WVU, Woodside finished the season as the team's leading scorer with 116 points, a team record at the time for kickers and second only to Ira Errett Rodgers's 147 points scored in 1919. Woodside's 28 field goals in 31 attempts set the NCAA Division I record for most field goals in a season. It also set the record in both categories for a single season at WVU, records that stood until 2014. Against Rutgers and Syracuse, Woodside scored 14 points, among the top ten performances by a kicker in WVU history. WVU finished the season with a loss against Florida State in the Gator Bowl and was ranked in the top 20 in both national polls.

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