Khayat helps Nichols through heartache
By By Will Bardwell / staff writer
Dec. 8, 2003
It wasn't the end of the world, but it sure felt like it to Johnathan Nichols.
The junior from Greenwood was having one of the best seasons ever for a kicker at Ole Miss. He had set school records for career points scored and field goals kicked in a game, and tied the school record for most career field goals. He had connected on 23-of-24 kicks and was widely considered the top field goal artist in the country.
In a handful of seconds, it fell apart.
LSU, ranked No. 3 at the time, came to Oxford on Nov. 22 for one of the most anticipated games in Ole Miss history. With a trip to the Southeastern Conference championship in the balance, Nichols missed two crucial field goals including a potential game-tying 37-yarder in the fourth quarter in the Rebels' three-point loss.
Nichols was devastated.
One of the most celebrated kickers in the country suddenly became the loneliest man in town. Teammates and coaches rushed to his defense, but Nichols was dejected and alone.
Almost alone. Probably only one person could truly empathize with Nichols Ole Miss Chancellor Robert Khayat. In 1958, it was Khayat who missed a big kick for the Rebels.
On Nov. 15 of that year, No. 7 Ole Miss traveled to Knoxville to face the struggling Tennessee Volunteers, seemingly en route to the Cotton Bowl.
The Rebels led 16-6 at halftime but could do no right in the second half. Ole Miss trailed 18-16 late in the fourth quarter, but had a chance to move ahead on a field goal from inside the 20-yard line. Khayat, a junior, pushed the kick too far to the side.
The Rebels lost 18-16. All hopes for the Cotton Bowl were dashed.
And when Nichols failed against LSU, Khayat immediately knew the agony the 21-year-old felt. Forty-five years earlier, he had felt it himself.
Never mind that on that gloomy day nearly five decades before, Tennessee out-gained Ole Miss by nearly 100 yards on the ground much as LSU dominated the Rebels' running game in the 17-14 Tigers win.
So on the Tuesday following the LSU game, two days before the Rebels faced archrival Mississippi State, Khayat visited the Ole Miss locker room after practice. He found Nichols and called him to the side.
But as a former kicker himself, Khayat knew those words alone would not bring Nichols complete solace.
And while Khayat's shared experience did not erase Nichols' painful memories, it was proof enough that life goes on.
It is a lesson that Nichols said he has learned well. Although he missed a 45-yard kick on a sopping wet field at Mississippi State two days after he spoke with Khayat, Nichols nailed a 32-yarder earlier in the game.
That lesson became a model of success for Khayat, who went on to become an all-pro kicker for the Washington Redskins, as he hopes it will for Nichols.
