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We can't come close to a touchback and we almost missed two extra points. Can someone on the soccer team try out?

(09-05-2015 07:38 PM)verycoolnin Wrote:  We can't come close to a touchback and we almost missed two extra points. Can someone on the soccer team try out?

Um, since the ODU soccer team is Nationally Ranked and currently playing their season also I kind-of doubt it. That said, maybe we could announce walk-on try outs campus wide to anyone who can kick it into the endzone.

(09-05-2015 07:45 PM)ETSUDB8-79 Wrote:  

(09-05-2015 07:38 PM)verycoolnin Wrote:  We can't come close to a touchback and we almost missed two extra points. Can someone on the soccer team try out?

Um, since the ODU soccer team is Nationally Ranked and currently playing their season also I kind-of doubt it. That said, maybe we could announce walk-on try outs campus wide to anyone who can kick it into the endzone.

The ODU soccer team is great. That's why I asked. We need someone with a big leg on Saturday.

Satchell Ziffer was pretty good. 1/1 FGA, 5/5 PAT, three punts for a net of 51 yards.

He's not that good. Every single kick off went to the 10 yard line. He almost missed the the extra point twice. Good thing we never had a field goal attempt. Eastern Michigan hit a 52 yard FG down the middle. This is going to be an issue.

^ agree. Very short kick offs and piss poor down field coverage. Somebody's gonna break one against us for sure. Luckily their punt return guy had lousy judgment or this could have ended differently

Does anyone know how a kicker can improve kicking power? Can it improve in a season?

(09-05-2015 08:28 PM)ODUR8R Wrote:  Satchell Ziffer was pretty good. 1/1 FGA, 5/5 PAT, three punts for a net of 51 yards.

He got so lucky. Not a single kick off went passed the 10 yard line.

(09-05-2015 08:59 PM)verycoolnin Wrote:  

(09-05-2015 08:28 PM)ODUR8R Wrote:  Satchell Ziffer was pretty good. 1/1 FGA, 5/5 PAT, three punts for a net of 51 yards.

He got so lucky. Not a single kick off went passed the 10 yard line.

He has "gotten lucky" a lot. He looks terrible. Everything he kicks looks like a disaster, but going back to last season, when he kicks the ball somehow the results are not bad.

Sometimes it dont matter if its pretty if it gets the job done. He is directly responsible for two victories last year, do you want those taken away just because he isn't an NFL talent? I'm sure the coaches are well aware of his skill set.

We need to play the new kicker from Florida, Chris Kirtley, immediately. He has to be better than Ziffer. Ziffer does not get any elevation on kicks. This is going to be a real problem unless we find an answer. We need to consider using a scholarship on a highly rated kicker.

What makes you think he is better? High school kicking is so much different. In college it is about hang time and distance. When they go for hang time distance is sacrificed. Never seen a high school kid consistently kick a ball that lands 5 yards beyond the end line.

I think hang time is more important now. Distance will get you set up on the 25 yard line every time. If you can get one in the air long enough to get the team down field you can get a stop inside the ten. That's provided we tackle the ball runner.

Ziffer's career hasn't been pretty; but he's been unbelievably effective.

(09-05-2015 08:53 PM)AimHigh Wrote:  Does anyone know how a kicker can improve kicking power? Can it improve in a season?

Spinach always seemed to work for Popeye.

In all seriousness, is there some concern among the posters that our kicking game is not being noticed by the coaching staff? The results (ugly, but so far not damaging) are plainly apparent to all. If left unaddressed, my operating assumption will be that the coaches have a good reason.

As I have heard people say Bentley can punt, I wonder why he didn't the 2 times we punted inside the 40? Seemed like that would have been a good time to do it.

(09-06-2015 11:54 AM)NCDad Wrote:  As I have heard people say Bentley can punt, I wonder why he didn't the 2 times we punted inside the 40? Seemed like that would have been a good time to do it.

He is excellent but with our current QB situation we don't want to risk him unless we have to due to an important, critical game situation. Also once we show it everyone else will have time to prepare for it.

This is a long standing point of confusion for me in college football. Coaches do not seem to respect the value of the kicking game until it has bitten them in some major way like losing a championship because of it. Once that happens, teams that have had poor kicking games for years miraculously find good kickers from then on. As much effect as kicking has on a game, it just makes no sense that it is not a high priority position to recruit.

The kicking game was a concern last year, and it has not changed. I hope it is a priority for future recruiting targets. There is no reason we should not expect to have a kicker that can get the ball into the end zone every time we kick off. My expectations are much greater than what we have now. Sorry gang, I'm not trying to be disparaging to anyone. however I know this impacts the game dramatically and if we start each new series at a disadvantage after we kick off to the opposing team, we might as well give them the ball on the 40 yard line. We give every team 20+ yards that are free yards, yards they don't have to claw and fight for. IMO it is a huge mental edge as well when they can depend on getting the kick off each time on the 10 -20 yard line. The starting field position and a teams ability to control that aspect of the game can change and have an impact on the outcome of almost every game we play.

(09-06-2015 12:50 PM)Monarchblue Wrote:  This is a long standing point of confusion for me in college football. Coaches do not seem to respect the value of the kicking game until it has bitten them in some major way like losing a championship because of it. Once that happens, teams that have had poor kicking games for years miraculously find good kickers from then on. As much effect as kicking has on a game, it just makes no sense that it is not a high priority position to recruit.

Coaches dont ignore the kicking game. There just arent a ton of good high school kickers, its tough to find good ones.

I worried more about punting than kicking and the punting was actually pretty good yesterday.