‘Mata don’t miss’: Colorado kicker Alejandro Mata goes viral
BOULDER, Colo. (BVM) – The Colorado Buffaloes have been can’t-miss TV under head coach Deion Sanders during the early part of the college football season. Among the many stars on the team, from Coach Prime to his sons Shedeur and Shilo to two-way standout Travis Hunter, the Buffs are loaded with big-time players with big-time personalities. However, it’s the smallest player on the roster who has put the “can’t miss” into can’t–miss TV.
Sophomore Alejandro Mata earned his first action as the team’s primary kicker in Saturday’s game against Arizona State after fellow sophomore kicker Jace Feely struggled over the first five games. Mata was perfect during the contest, going 3-for-3 on PATs and hitting a 42-yard field goal and a game-winning 43-yard field goal with 12 seconds left.
COLORADO TAKES THE LEAD WITH 12 SECONDS LEFT 🎯🙌@CUBuffsFootball pic.twitter.com/gQTlIKdinv
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 8, 2023
After the kick, Deion told Mata to celebrate his moment and the 5-foot-9, 190-pound kicker obliged with a celebratory dance.
“It’s because he saw me do it after the first field goal,” Mata told Pac-12 Network after the game. “I’m always doing it in the shower so I’m like, ‘I have to do this after a field goal or something.’”
@espn Coach Prime told Alejandro Mata to start dancing after he hit the game-winning field goal 🤣 (via TrevorMBooth/X, h/t JayMac10/X) #cfb #football #colorado #coachprime #deionsanders
“Mata is Mata,” Sanders said after the game. “I believe in Mata. Why do you think I brought him here? Mata don’t miss. You can call a timeout and freeze him all you want that don’t mean nothing to Mata. That’s who he is. He always says to me when I walk over to him and give him a hug he says, ‘I don’t miss’ and I love it so I told him to do your thing, get your shine on, it’s your moment baby live it.”
The kicker has been clutch ever since he began playing football. Originally a soccer player whose family immigrated to the United States in 2016, Mata’s football journey began in eighth grade after a P.E. teacher told him to try the sport after seeing his skills in class.
From there, Mata became the kicker for the Buford High School team, becoming the varsity starter as both a junior and senior. Over the course of his career with the Wolves, Mata hit 16-of-23 field goals and 116-of-121 PATs. This included two game-winning kicks in both the 2020 and 2021 state championship games as he hit a game-winning 26-yard field goal in overtime to beat Lee County in overtime as a junior and his PAT gave the Wolves a 21-20 win over Langston Hughes as a senior.
What a week!! First I get named specialist of the year and later on I get the chance to play and get the game winning kick for state‼️🔥💰 Proud to be part of the Buford family 🐺🟢@Coach_Davis22 @CoachDash @CoachApp35 @RecruitGeorgia @obi1_39 @Chris_Sailer @LemmingReport pic.twitter.com/Eu6Z0IO1u9
— Alejandro Mata (@alemata004) December 31, 2020
Mata was named first-team all-state by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a junior and backed that up with second-team all-state honors as a senior. This earned the attention of Coach Prime and his Jackson State program, which was the first to offer the kicker.
#AGTG Truly blessed to receive my first offer from Jackson State University! @Coach_O @Coach_Davis22 @obi1_39 @CoachDash @CoachApp35 @coachmichaelmay @Alemanmata7 pic.twitter.com/6hSMBDzQE8
— Alejandro Mata (@alemata004) November 3, 2021
After committing to the team, Mata found immediate success under Sanders’ tutelage. He played all 13 games for the Tigers, hitting 12-of-13 field goals and 50-of-51 extra points to help him earn third-team FCS freshman All-American honors.
3rd Team All-American and beyond thankful🙌🏽Happy Holidays🎄❤️ pic.twitter.com/KdkB88MFX1
— Alejandro Mata (@alemata004) December 26, 2022
Even during his brief stint at Jackson State, it was clear that Mata had made an impression on his head coach. Shortly after Sanders announced his decision to take over the Buffs program, his kicker followed.
Alejandro Mata announced his commitment to play for Coach Prime at Colorado.
Get ready for more epic moments like this 🙌
(via @DeionSandersJr, @DeionSanders, @alemata004) pic.twitter.com/dtENLZaJrt
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) December 28, 2022
Now Mata has once again proven to Sanders that he deserved this opportunity to shine. While he may not grab the headlines or intimidate opponents like some of his fellow teammates, it is clear that Mata and his “don’t miss” attitude are a perfect fit for Coach Prime and the Buffs.
ASU tried to ice Alejandro Mata before the game-winning field goal attempt.
Mata: “I got ice in my veins… You can’t ice something that’s already iced.”
Even the kicker has bars 🥶🥶🥶
(Via @theepregameshow) pic.twitter.com/twNp5RlBok
— RK (@RyanKoenigsberg) October 8, 2023
