Taylor Bertolet was riding a wave of success when he was upended.

Bertolet, the former Exeter standout, accepted a scholarship to kick at Texas A&M and scored 106 points in 2012 when the Aggies finished 11-2 behind Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel.

After his s u c c e s s f u l freshman season, Bertolet remained the A&M kicker until he missed two extra points in a 42-13 rout of SMU early the next season and lost his job.

“It happened quickly,” Bertolet said this week. “I missed two kicks, and I got pulled. I was having success. It was a pretty big shock to me. I thought I was in a good place.

“It made me even hungrier. It made me want to get back into that role. I didn’t take the easy way out, which is put my head down and walk around campus like: ‘This is crappy. I’m far away from home. This is bad.’ I refused to do that. I wasn’t going to let one game define who I am.”

Bertolet continued to handle kickoffs the rest of that season and last season before regaining his job this year as a senior. He’s one of the reasons why the Aggies are 5-2 going into Saturday’s game against South Carolina.

He’s made 13-of-17 field goal tries, including three from 50 yards or longer, and all 22 of his extra points for 61 points. He credits his offseason work on his mental approach for his comeback this year.

“Being a placekicker and being under the pressure that we face, you have to be able to train the mental side of kicking,” Bertolet said. “That’s a huge part. You can have all the physical talent in the world, but when it comes time to perform in a high-pressure situation you have to be able to trust the work that you’ve put in.

“It’s a tough thing for younger kickers to do.”

Bertolet was rated the No. 1 high school kicker in the country by Rivals after he made 10-of-14 field goals at Exeter and was named to The Associated Press Class AAAA All-State first team.

He was redshirted in 2011 while playing behind Randy Bullock, who won the Lou Groza Award that year as the nation’s top kicker and who’s now with the Houston Texans.

Bertolet burst onto the scene the following year, making three field goals 50 yards or longer and joining Manziel as the first freshmen in school history to score at least 100 points. But even then, he had trouble with extra points.

When he missed three PATs in 2013, giving him 10 misses in his first 17 games, coach Kevin Sumlin replaced him with Josh Lambo, who held the job through last season and is now a rookie with the San Diego Chargers.

“When I was younger, I made the mistake of overthinking and overanalyzing the kick,” Bertolet said. “When you make kicking simpler, it makes things go a lot easier and smoother.

“If you stay confident when you line up for a kick, if you stay relaxed and if you’re decisive, then you’re going to be way more successful than somebody who looks more at the technical side of it.”

After Bertolet lost the job, the first person he called was his older brother, Matt, a former kicker at Exeter who he said is his hero, role model and mentor

“He taught me everything I know about kicking” Bertolet said. “I told him how I felt. He was behind me 100 percent. My brother knew what I was going through. He was there to support me and keep me motivated. He wouldn’t let me drop my head.”

Even though he wasn’t the A&M placekicker, Bertolet continued to kick off, which he said helped him a great deal. He had 65 touchbacks in 2012, which ranked third in the nation, and has had more than 55 percent of his kickoffs wind up as touchbacks.

“That was a big positive,” he said. “There was still hope. You’re still a part of the team. You’re still kicking. It’s an exciting part of the game. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do, but there are a lot of guys who would still wish to be in that position.”

Even though Lambo was off to the NFL, Bertolet still had to beat out heralded freshman Daniel LaCamera this year. He worked on narrow Arena Football League uprights in the offseason, which helped him win the job.

He kicked a 55-yarder against Mississippi State this month, the longest at Kyle Field since 1999. The following week, he hit from 54 and 52 yards in a 41-23 loss to Alabama. His misses this year have come from 38, 49, 52 and 55 yards.

“I felt really good going into this season,” Bertolet said. “I worked hard and stayed confident. I got my chance to kick field goals again, and I think it’s gone pretty successful.”

Bertolet also is an outstanding student. He’s been named to the Southeastern Conference academic honor roll three times and received his bachelor’s degree in psychology in May. He wants to become a sports psychologist when his football career ends.

“I wouldn’t trade my time at Texas A&M for anything,” he said. “I think it’s been the biggest growing experience of my life. I wanted to be at a big-time school. I wanted to play in a big stadium. I wanted to be on that stage.

“I knew what I was signing up for. I know what the life of a kicker entails. You have to go through tough times, and you have to be able to withstand them.”