CSNbbs

“I’ve been to three county fairs and a goat-rope and thought I’d seen it all, but the things that have happened to us on special teams are unexplainable.

Alright, I'll ask the stupid question....what the heck is a goat rope? The only thing I can think of is like cattle roping (in rodeos, etc), except with goats...I hope that I am wrong.

The Kent job will do that to you. A couple of years ago after a game at Iowa, Deen Pees described his defensive secondary to his local press like this: "All week long in practice, those guys looked like Deion Sanders. And on Saturday they looked like Dionne Warwick!"

I saw Kent was up 17-7, then when I next saw the score they were down 24-17, and I swear the only thought that came to my mind was, "What did their punter do now?"

MacLord Wrote:I saw Kent was up 17-7, then when I next saw the score they were down 24-17, and I swear the only thought that came to my mind was, "What did their punter do now?"

He dropped the snap and as the rush was coming in , the ball was on the
ground , he kicked it ..he should be on the soccer team ..

I wish I were exaggerating, but our punt and punt return teams are about a 50-50 shot at getting the play off successfully. Going for it on 4th down or not sending a return man back are conservative plays in our game plan. Punts and FG's are very high risk calls.
I have never seen a team so completely inept on special teams as the Flashes are this year. We have basically lost four games because of that alone and who knows how bad the morale damage is to the offense and defense.
We've had so many muffed punts, CE has started sniffing around our games.

SAHerdFan Wrote:

MacLord Wrote:I saw Kent was up 17-7, then when I next saw the score they were down 24-17, and I swear the only thought that came to my mind was, "What did their punter do now?"

He dropped the snap and as the rush was coming in , the ball was on the
ground , he kicked it ..he should be on the soccer team ..

I was curious about that penalty. It appeared that what he did could have been considered a failed drop kick. In that case, he missed and it's a turnover on downs to the Herd. However, they called a penalty which gave the Herd the ball plus half the distance to the goal. Not that it mattered too much, as it was only about a three yard penalty. I was just curious. Anybody know if drop kicks are still legal?

Yes, the drop kick is still legal but the ball has to be kicked as soon as the ball touches the ground. In this case, I believe the ball bounced twice before he kicked it. Therefore, it is not a legal drop kick but an illegal kicking of the ball resulting in a 15 yard penalty (in this case, half the distance to the goal from where he kicked the ball) and loss of down.

Quote:The Kent job will do that to you. A couple of years ago after a game at Iowa, Deen Pees described his defensive secondary to his local press like this: "All week long in practice, those guys looked like Deion Sanders. And on Saturday they looked like Dionne Warwick!"

Thanks. This quote reminds me why I am so happy Dean Pees has moved along.

He failed to recognize any relationship between his job as a head coach and his team's preparation for the game. He's a good second or third guy where he can focus, just not right for the top job. He's got the record at KSU to prove it.

At least Martin's not in denial. And, not wringing his hands about how many hours a week he works and how hard he's trying...the standard Dean Pees mid season lament.

The other thing Martin said was " Might as well be a four down team from here on out."

Special teams have cost the Flashes four games.

MAKO Wrote:Yes, the drop kick is still legal but the ball has to be kicked as soon as the ball touches the ground. In this case, I believe the ball bounced twice before he kicked it. Therefore, it is not a legal drop kick but an illegal kicking of the ball resulting in a 15 yard penalty (in this case, half the distance to the goal from where he kicked the ball) and loss of down.

I went to the NCAA rule book online and found that, yes, it's still legal. What was a little vague was whether it was legal in a punt situation. They specifically define a punt as a kick where the ball does not hit the ground before the foot (or leg or knee) contacts it. It is definitely legal for a field goal or free kick. It seems it could be used in a punting situation in what they call a "scrimmage kick", though a scrimmage kick could also be a field goal attempt.

After you convert one of those, doesn't the Australian dude in the sport coat and the pith helmet give you that cool two-armed pointing signal to indicate that the kick was good?

DevilGrad Wrote:After you convert one of those, doesn't the Australian dude in the sport coat and the pith helmet give you that cool two-armed pointing signal to indicate that the kick was good?

AFL footy rocks!

Go Essendon!


-Dan

It's official. I rate today a GOOD day for comedy on the MACbbs!

I listened to quite a bit of the Kent game on the radio. In the grab-the-coach-before-he-goes-into-the-lockerroom-at-the-half interview, the sideline reporter asked Martin about the first half. I never heard a coach sound so nervous...it went something like: "We gotta hold on for 30 more minutes...just 30 more minutes...we just gotta play ball for another 30 minutes and we can win this thing." Tough to convey his tone in text-form, but the guy was more nervous than I've ever heard a coach.

The best comment from Bill Needle: "Alston has six carries for sixty yards thusfar. I wasn't too good in school but that's *pause* uh, pretty good."

Tough to divide 60 by six, I guess. Kent fans...you have to get rid of Needles the Clown.

Of the 9,000 at the game, how many were Marshall fans? 6k? If the weather was better, I was actually going to stop over for a bit. Seems like the weather dove quite a few away? Marshall on homecoming should be a slam-dunk 15k.

Captain Kangaroo Wrote:Of the 9,000 at the game, how many were Marshall fans? 6k?

Only if you let the Herdiban do the counting.

As it happens, Kent played a home game on the same weekend last October and drew 8,228 . . . for UConn.

So, my best guess is that MUg traveled about 1,000 more fans than did Connecticut.

I'd guess it was 2K Herd fans, 3K tops.

FlashFan Wrote:The other thing Martin said was " Might as well be a four down team from here on out."

Special teams have cost the Flashes four games.

I don't know if special teams has cost UB 4 games ( the offence and defense do pretty well by themselves) , but they've certainly contributed.

Off the top of my head (not necessarily accurate, but in the ballpark):

2 blocked punts by Syracuse and a couple more near misses- one went for 11 yards.
93 yard kick-off return for TD by Akron.
Ball centered over the punter's head for safety against Miami.
Two missed chip shot field goals against Miami- one would take the lead and the other would pull UB within 4.
Dead last in the MAC in punt return average.

Of course UB has a special team tradition- Ryne Robinson had punt returns for TDs on consecutive possessions last year.

Throw in the 98 yard fumble for a TD by somebody this year against UB and 2 or 3 TDs thrown by UB quarterbacks to the opposition.

Man, the Kent-UB game in November has the makings of a classic!

Note- in all seriousness- UB-Kent should be a good competitive game in November. If nothing else, Cribbs is worth the price of admission. Wish ~15,000 of my closest friends realized that. :(

klingon288 Wrote:2 blocked punts by Syracuse and a couple more near misses- one went for 11 yards.
93 yard kick-off return for TD by Akron.
Ball centered over the punter's head for safety against Miami.
Two missed chip shot field goals against Miami- one would take the lead and the other would pull UB within 4.

That's a good half for us.

Captain-

You're right, it should have been more than 9,700. Cold, wind, and 1-5 will drive people away. Only 2-3K Marshall fans.

We're gonna have to win to get crowds. Period.