Pressure is going through kicking competitions with two teammates nearly every week, with the winner earning the starting job.

Pressure is missing the first two field goals of your career, then lining up for the third one knowing you may not get another chance.

Pressure is attempting a field goal in practice where if you miss, the entire team runs.

"That's happened a few times," Smith said. "That's a bad feeling."

These days, however, Smith is feeling pretty good about himself, and the Cavaliers are feeling good about him. UVa's kicking game was a major weakness early in the season, but Smith has turned it into a strength.

Over the past two games, he has been perfect on three field-goal attempts and eight extra points. He has also been impressive on kickoffs, with eight of 12 resulting in touchbacks.

"It seems like he's getting into a little bit of a groove here," UVa coach Al Groh said. "I'd like to think it's just another case of a young player developing and getting better."

Smith said there was plenty of room for improvement during preseason camp. The Cavaliers had three candidates - Smith, sophomore Bryan Smith and true freshman Connor Hughes - with no college game experience. None kicked especially well early on, but Bryan (the only kicker on scholarship) got the nod in the first two games.

Bryan missed two extra points against Florida State, however, so Kurt received his opportunity the next week against South Carolina. It didn't go well. His second extra point was too low and the Gamecocks blocked it. One of his kickoffs was returned for a touchdown. He was wide left on a 36-yard field goal. The next week against Akron, he again hooked a kick from the same distance.

After that, Groh opened up the job, holding another kicking competition. Kurt had a good week of practice, which afforded him a third chance. But when he came on the field for a 32-yard attempt early in the second quarter at Wake Forest, he figured he better not blow it.

He didn't. He drilled the ball through the uprights, then connected on kicks of 30 and 32 yards last Saturday against Duke. In all, he scored 17 points in the two games as the Cavaliers won both by a total of nine points.

"I'm just happy to help out and do my job - be a positive influence instead of a negative influence," Smith said. "Going 0 for 2 on my first two kicks was real disappointing. I tried to keep my confidence up. I knew I could do it. It was just a matter of time till they started going through.

"After you see a couple of those sail through, it's a lot easier. Every time you line up after that, there's a little less pressure."

Smith was an all-state kicker at the Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tenn., where he made 10 of 13 field-goal attempts and all 30 of his extra points as a senior. But he says kicking in college is very different.

"Things are happening a lot faster," he said. "Anybody can kick it right down the middle all day with no one around them. When you're out there and everyone around you is moving fast [and] you're trying to hurry and get a good get-off time, everything changes. Once you get accustomed to that and get in your rhythm, it really gets easier."

Remarkably, in six games, no UVa drive has bogged down between the opponent's 20- to 35-yard line, so Groh has not had to decide whether to attempt a long field goal. But the coach says Smith has "very good range" and a strong leg, as he has shown on his kickoffs.

Still, to Groh, leg strength is less critical than dependability.

"The most important thing about a field-goal kicker is to be able to determine at what spot on the field you can count on him to be consistently accurate," Groh said. "That's more important than knowing how far he can kick it."

Smith hopes to hold on to his job for the next three-and-a-half years. Eventually, perhaps as soon as Saturday's game against Clemson, he may have to make a game-deciding kick. If so, he thinks, the pressure won't be much more intense than he has already faced.

"People are always going to criticize you when you miss. That's part of being a kicker," he said. "But the best aspect of this has been that my teammates have rallied behind me a little bit. They said they had confidence in me. My coaches also had confidence that I could perform, so now I can just go out there and do my thing."

Notes. Upon further review, two incompletions were removed from UVa quarterback Matt Schaub's statistics from the Duke game. They should not have counted because of Blue Devil penalties. The corrections allowed Schaub to move from fourth to third nationally in passing efficiency … About 2,000 tickets still remain for Saturday's game. Call 1-800-542-8821 for more information. Tickets also are available for the North Carolina game on Oct. 19.

"I've always wanted things right away," he said. "I've never liked to wait around."

That helps explain why Simmons rushed through college, earning his undergraduate degree in three years. But it also explains why the long wait to become Clemson's starting quarterback seemed so excruciating for the former high school All-American from Quincy, Fla.

For three years, Simmons had to bide his time as Woodrow Dantzler completed one of the most remarkable careers in ACC history. Now, finally, the job is his. But the need for patience remains.

Success hasn't come immediately for Simmons, a redshirt junior who has the lowest quarterback rating of the ACC's nine starters. Though he has thrown just five fewer passes than Virginia's Matt Schaub, he has 21 fewer completions, 255 fewer yards and 10 fewer touchdowns.

But he is getting better. His passing efficiency has improved with every game and so has his rushing total. Led by Simmons, Clemson's offense has increased its yardage output in each of its five games, capped off by last Thursday's 441-yard outing against Florida State.

Though the Tigers lost, 48-31, Simmons was outstanding in defeat, passing for 293 yards and running for 50 more. His 343 yards of total offense were the most by an ACC player this season and eighth in school history. (Dantzler owns five of the top seven spots.)

"It's exponential," Simmons said of his improvement since the opening game, when he totaled 136 yards in a loss to Georgia. "You can't imagine the growth I've made in the last five games compared to the last two years.

"When you're not playing, you can improve yourself physically in the weight room. But the mental part of it, you learn best by doing, by being out there on the field. My decision-making has gotten so much faster and better. There's no comparison."

Simmons, who redshirted in 1999, played occasionally as Dantzler's backup the past two seasons. He came off the bench to throw four touchdown passes against North Carolina in 2000, matching the school record. He saw little action last year as Dantzler became the first Division I-A player to pass for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in a single season.

Virginia's players and coaches must be happy to be rid of Dantzler, who ran for 220 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-10 victory at Scott Stadium two years ago. With the Tigers (3-2, 1-1 ACC) returning to Charlottesville for Saturday's game on ESPN2, the Cavaliers (4-2, 2-1) expect a different sort of defensive challenge.

"As everybody's seen, Woody Dantzler was one of the most dynamic quarterback runners in the history of this conference. So in that respect, of course [Clemson's offense] is going to change somewhat" with Simmons, said UVa coach Al Groh. "This quarterback can do you some trouble running the ball, but I don't think he's going to have a career of 200-yard rushing games."

With Simmons, Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said his team calls far fewer quarterback draws and option plays. On pass plays, Simmons usually drops back into the pocket rather than sprint out as Dantzler did. Still, Simmons can scramble effectively, as he showed against the Seminoles.

"He's got some pretty good running skills," Bowden said. "He's not as good as Woody, but he's pretty elusive. If you're bearing down, he will tuck it and run it. That's always part of the package."

So far, Clemson's defense – first in the ACC in yards allowed – has carried the team. But the offense is catching up. Its average yards per play has increased each game from 3.3 to 4.3 to 5.2 to 6.1 to 7.2

"With the players we have and the schemes we have, I think our potential is unlimited," said Simmons, who completed 34 of 52 passes in Clemson's past two games. "There's no reason we shouldn't be near the top of the ACC, or the nation, in offense. We gave a glimpse of what Clemson's offense can do against Florida State. We just need to keep working hard and getting better."

Simmons has never shied from hard work, on the field or in the classroom. In high school, in addition to throwing for more than 6,000 yards and 96 touchdowns, he took extra classes at Tallahassee Community College. He arrived at Clemson with 49 college credit hours, which enabled him to graduate faster than any football player in the program's history.

That has allowed Simmons to concentrate more on football this fall. He has a light courseload, giving him more time to watch film and lift weights. He plans to take graduate classes in the spring and earn his master's degree in human resources while completing his final season of eligibility next year.

"He's just an outstanding young man," Bowden said. "He's exactly what a student-athlete should be."

Simmons says he sometimes got frustrated as a backup and considered transferring. But his family and his faith helped him wait it out.

"My mom was very instrumental in instilling in me that patience is one of the best qualities a person can have," Simmons said. "Reading the Bible, it talks a lot about how important patience is. I've learned to be humble and patient, because that gets rewarded.

"I've waited a long time. Now I think I'm getting my reward."