By Bill Koch
Enquirer staff writer

Kevin Lovell couldn't have picked a better way to impress the University of Cincinnati coaching staff.

With rain falling steadily in last week's intrasquad scrimmage, Lovell, all 5-feet-10, 150 pounds of him, drilled a 49-yard field goal that might have been good from 55 yards.

It was longer than any field goal the Bearcats kicked last year.

"I was pumped about that one," Lovell said. "I hadn't played in the rain in a while and I was really looking forward to it. It had some distance on it."

Less than two weeks before the Sept. 4 season opener at Ohio State, Lovell, a junior college transfer from El Camino (Calif.) Community College, is the leading contender to become UC's placekicker.

But he hasn't won the job yet. Incumbent Chet Ervin remains strongly in the running, too. A kicking scrimmage scheduled for Wednesday will probably decide which player gets the nod.

"Lovell right now may be a little bit ahead of (Ervin)," said UC coach Mark Dantonio, "but Chet has kicked for us in the past, too, so he's got some experience."

Last year, UC coach Rick Minter used both Ervin and walk-on Chris Manfredini as placekickers. Manfredini, who has since left the program, kicked the extra points and short field goals.

Ervin punted and kicked the long field goals, making 10 of 17 attempts, all beyond 30 yards. His three field goals (44, 43 and 37 yards) against West Virginia were instrumental in UC's upset victory.

But when Dantonio evaluated the kickers in spring practice, he decided he needed more competition for Ervin. He signed both Lovell and Brian Steel, a punter from Scottsdale (Ariz.) Community College.

He also brought in several non-scholarship kickers, including placekicker Brandon Yingling from Mason High School, who will probably be redshirted; and punters Kevin Huber from McNicholas and Cody Chappell from Warren Howland High School.

Ervin, who averaged 38.9 yards per kick last year, has a slight edge over Steel for the punter's job, but that position also is up for grabs.

The junior from Sulphur, Ky., wasn't thrilled when he heard UC had signed two new kickers.

"At first, you're kind of hesitant," he said, "because you want to be the guy. But the way Coach has explained it, it makes everybody better having competition, and having really good competition like they've given me."

Lovell, who grew up playing soccer in Hawthorne, Calif., didn't play football until his senior year in high school when a friend asked him to try out as a placekicker. He made 15 of 16 field goals, converted 54 of 55 points after touchdown, and was named first-team all-state.

"It took off from there," he said. "My love for football surpassed my love for soccer."

Dantonio won't rule out having Ervin do double duty again this year if he's the best in both categories, but the UC coach doesn't want to split the placekicking job like Minter did last year.

At this point, the competition is too close to call, which is exactly the way Dantonio likes it.

"We've gone from a situation that was a little bit iffy, I think, to one where we're more solid than we were," Dantonio said. "Kicking is so important."

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E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com