kicking

[E Jones]

One (of the many) things that bothered me about last Saturdays game was the special teams did not seem to improve. I don't think any of the kickoffs got inside the five yard line. A blocked field goal where the guy easily got around the end, and a missed extra point where he was bailed out by a penalty. The extra point looked shanked before he was touched, but maybe the kicker knew he would be touched and it messed up his tempo.
Not to mention the poor snaps on those two kicks. If we are in close games this season, I do not have a lot of faith in the kicking game in crunchtime.
And is there not anybody on that campus who can kick a football from the 35 to the endzone? Nobody who played soccer in high school that could walk on and perform kickoffs?

 

[CougSinceBirth]

Agree on the kicking game. I did think the kickoff return game was much better.

 

[CougPatrol]

Regarding the placekicking, the biggest red flag is with our long snapper. I thought our kicker looked good, but the snaps were all floaters. Some really high, and others were bounced back there. Hard to focus on kicking when you're nervous about the snap.

 

[Glad Cougar]

One (of the many) things that bothered me about last Saturdays game was the special teams did not seem to improve. I don't think any of the kickoffs got inside the five yard line. A blocked field goal where the guy easily got around the end, and a missed extra point where he was bailed out by a penalty. The extra point looked shanked before he was touched, but maybe the kicker knew he would be touched and it messed up his tempo.
Not to mention the poor snaps on those two kicks. If we are in close games this season, I do not have a lot of faith in the kicking game in crunchtime.
And is there not anybody on that campus who can kick a football from the 35 to the endzone? Nobody who played soccer in high school that could walk on and perform kickoffs?

The snapper, the holder, and the kicker (I believe) are all walkons. So is the punter. I would hazard to guess a lot of our kickoff and return players are walkons too. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Abramo the freshman kicker is on scholarship, but so many special teams players are not. I loved the day when WSU spent a scholarship on a kickoff specialist (Holliday) who routinely kicked it out of the back of the endzone. That scholarship could go to a 10th WR who eventually transfers out for more playing time or it could go to a specialist who might make a difference in a close game.