Kiski Area grad Nick Bisceglia kick-starts Robert Morris special teams

Robert Morris is playing its season finale. The score is tied, and the game against Campbell at Joe Walton Stadium is in overtime.

After failing to convert a third down, Colonials coach Bernard Clark calls for fifth-year senior Nick Bisceglia.

So what’s running through the mind of the Kiski Area graduate? Is he thinking about it possibly being the last kick of his college career or maybe even his final chance to score points on a football field?

Nope.

“Kicking in overtime is so different. To be honest, you get in your own little world,” Bisceglia said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s at Joe Walton Stadium or in front of 60,000 people at the Super Bowl. … But I was thinking about what I think about every time I step on the field: Let’s go 1 for 1.”

Bisceglia’s 25-yard attempt was good, and his field goal provided the winning points in a 20-17 victory Nov. 20. It gave Robert Morris a 4-6 record and a 3-4 mark in the Big South Conference.

Bisceglia was 1 for 1 in that situation, 2 for 2 on field goals — he kicked a 41-yarder in regulation — for the game and was spot on throughout his senior season.

And that’s what Robert Morris expected from the fifth-year player, a former soccer standout at Kiski Area who didn’t begin kicking through uprights until an outdoors gym glass in 10th grade.

“We never had to tell Nick anything before a kick,” Robert Morris special teams coordinator Nick Alaimalo said. “I see the kicking position kind of like quarterback. You need those guys to be even-keeled, and (Bisceglia) is that type of guy. I might give him a few words of encouragement every now and again, but I usually just let him do his thing.”

By doing his thing, Bisceglia earned Big South Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts against Campbell and also for kicking three field goals, including a 38-yarder with 5 seconds remaining, in a 38-35 win against Hampton on Oct. 30.

For the season, Bisceglia made 10 of 12 attempts and his .833 field-goal percentage is tied for 14th in the Football Championship Subdivision. He went 21 for 21 on extra-point attempts, making the final 60 PATs of his college career.

Bisceglia’s 51 points this season gave him 203 for his career, becoming just the third player in Robert Morris history — Jeff Carlo (250, 1998-2001) and Tim Hall (208, 1994-95) — to join the 200-point club.

“There is no doubt we’re going to miss him,” Alaimalo said. “He acts like a professional. He’s been such an awesome weapon for us. He has moxie about him, that swagger about him. His focus is on his job.”

It’s a job Bisceglia, whose career-long is 43 yards, consistently improved at while at Robert Morris.

“Over time, physically and mentally I got better,” Bisceglia said. “For me, the biggest thing was mentally. There’s the physical aspect to kicking, but the mental game is bigger and staying the right mindset, especially if you’re have a bad kick or a bad day, it’s important. You’ve got to put the last kick in the past, focus on the next kick.”

With the season complete, Bisceglia is focused on finishing his master’s in instructional leadership. One day, he hopes to work in athletic administration, possibly becoming an athletic director.

For now, he’s hoping there might be a few kicks left in him, no matter the level of professional football where they might come.

“I’m a real big believer in why not,” said Bisceglia, who has made up to 57-yard field goals at practice. “Why not try this? I’m going to put myself out there and see what happens. If nothing happens, at least I tried.”