Sep. 23—On the turf of the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho, four years ago, Soren McKee warmed up, not knowing whether the fifth of November would prove to be a day for him to remember.
As it turned out, it did.
"It was kind of funny," McKee said this week. "I didn't know I was going to be given an opportunity until about five minutes before kickoff."
He was told that Wyatt Hawkins would get the first kick but that he would get the second. And that's exactly what happened: Hawkins made a 35-yard field goal in the first quarter, and after a 87-yard touchdown by Nolan Ulm later in the second quarter, McKee was sent out to attempt the point after.
It was the first point of what has been a record-chasing career for the fifth-year Eastern Washington kicker. Heading into Saturday's game against Cal Poly at Roos Field in Cheney, McKee sits on the cusp of a number of Eastern's career records.
He is third in extra points made (137 of 139), seven ahead of Seth Harrison, his mentor and coach, and six behind Mike Jarrett for second place. Roldan Alcobendas, Eastern's kicker in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018, set a record (212) that McKee would be hard pressed to break.
A more reachable school record is that of Jason Cromer, who made 39 field goals from 1988 -90. McKee, who made a career-high 3 of 3 field goals last week against Washington and is 6-for-6 on the season, is 36 of 46 in his career.
And seemingly, in each of McKee's seasons at Eastern, he has fought for his starting role.
"He's won the job and had more competition and rewon the job," EWU head coach Aaron Best said after Saturday's game at Husky Stadium, which ended in the same score, 48-16, as McKee's first career game. "He's a guy who continues to put one foot in front of the other."
McKee is now a team captain, a leader on an Eagles squad that is trying to reach the FCS playoffs for the first time in McKee's college career. If the team ends up achieving that goal, it's likely McKee will have played a crucial role — even if he may not know when the crucial moments will come.
"He's a guy who has stayed here, and in this era of college football, that's a little rare," EWU punter Luke Faccone said. "But he's a hard worker, and it's the nature of a kicker to go through those tough, maybe more defining moments than you want to be. You're either a hero or a zero, but he's always kept his head up."
McKee faced competition, but all the while he said he reminded himself to remain focused.
"I've got to remember that it's all about my process," McKee said. "I can't compare myself to someone else. I've got to be the best version of myself. And I knew I had the confidence, at least going into every competition I had, that I am the more consistent, accurate kicker."
An 'all or nothing' role
When McKee was a teenager, his primary athletic goal was to be a soccer player. But when he attended a football camp while he was at Summit High School in Bend, Oregon, he came to a conclusion.
"Football was something I had quite a bit of potential in," McKee said. "So by my sophomore year, and definitely junior year, the goal was to play college football."
Kicking camps, McKee said, provided the best setting for him to get in front of college coaches, so he went to as many as he could.
But how McKee actually got a look from Eastern, he said, was lucky: Zach Bruce, now Eastern Washington's defensive coordinator, came to McKee's high school to take a look at some of the team's players on defense. Corben Hyatt, Summit's head coach, told Bruce he should take a look at the team's kicker.
McKee said that Eastern had its eye on a different kicker at the time, Wyatt Redding. But when Redding committed to Boise State — he has since transferred to Montana — the Eagles had an opening, and McKee ended up getting the offer.
He played in three games as a freshman and made 7 of 7 extra-point attempts.
Then came the 2023 season, when McKee handled most — but not all — of the Eagles' kicks, sharing the duties occasionally with Jackson Cleaver. Cleaver made 3 of 3 kicks that season and all 68 of the team's kickoffs. McKee finished 11 of 17 kicking field goals that year, the least accurate of his career and one that included a potential game-winning 38-yarder with 2 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
That kick, notably, came after the Eagles had let a 27-point third-quarter lead slip away.
In every year since, though, McKee has gotten more accurate and has increased his seasonlong made kick. In 2024, he made 7 of 10 field goals with a long of 44. In 2025, he made 11 of 13, including the first of his career over 50 (a 51-yarder against Sacramento State).
Then there are the six he's made this season, including a new career-long of 53 in the season-opener at Northern Arizona.
"I would say right now my favorite kick (of my career) is the 53-yarder," McKee said. "That was my first of the season, and to do it on a careerlong just felt like the perfect way to open up the season and give me a massive confidence boost."
That mental side of kicking is one that Faccone — who also works with Harrison — said he's familiar with.
"It's unlike a lot of other mental games in sports," Faccone said. "I've played soccer and basketball most of my life, and it's just a very different setting to put yourself in. It can feel like all or nothing."
"That's something we work with Seth (Harrison) on, too. Like many kickers, we'll struggle if we're having a slump. There's a lot of 'next-kick' mentality. A lot of prep beforehand and knowing that you've done the work. Swing your leg and let the muscle memory do the talking."
To that end, Faccone and McKee spend much of their time in practice doing mental reps so as to save their legs for the games, similar to how a pitcher monitors how much he throws between starts. Faccone said he focuses on the drop, something he'll do about 100 times in a practice.
McKee said he also tries to help out during practice in other ways, picking up equipment between drills or, like he did this week, helping the running backs with fumble drills. But McKee figured that on a given Saturday, he will attempt up to 50 kicks between pregame and the end of the contest.
It's all part of the routine he has built up over his decade of kicking, a routine designed for him to be ready when he is called upon — even if he doesn't know when, or how often, those moments will come.
As for his distance, McKee is still working to prove that he can make the long kicks that earlier in his career were given to other kickers on the team.
"Fifty-five is the next step," he said. "I'm going to need some good conditions for that to happen, but I've got it in me."
