This is an area of concern. Our coverage is average but our K can't reach the end zone. At least the kicker being sent out there can't. In a conversation at the game yesterday with one of the parents of one of the other kickers, there are 2-3 walk-ons who can hit the Case Center consistently on kickoffs. If all you're doing is running them out there to kickoff why aren't you running the kid out there with the biggest leg? I feel like we are one of the only FBS teams who can't reach the end zone on kickoffs and it almost bit is last week.
Kickoffs
- Thread starter TU_BLA
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Agree on the kick-off depth & especially the coverage, but I really like Shawn Norman(#10). Often gets double teamed & still in on most tackles. Hey Bla-what's with the slowdown in the HUNH? On 90% of plays yesterday, Dane goes up to the center, looks to the sideline, backs up in shotgun & we finally snap the ball with 13 or 14 seconds left on the playclock. Drove me froggin crazy. Might as well huddle up. Seems like we were much quicker to snap it earlier in season. TU Football: 1st,last,always!
The pace is dictated by what the defense is showing and the situation. If we have the D on their heels we go go go. If we are behind yeah sticks we see what the defense is showing and make an adjustment. Watch Baylor, they do the same thing. So does Bowling Green. It's not a HUNH without purpose and your not going to go fast just to go fast. There is a reason to go fast and if the reason is not there then you make the right play call.
Do you guys remember that game a few years ago against SMU where they went HUNH and kept going 3 and out all day? It was hilarious. They were sprinting to the line after incompletions and sacks on their way to repeated 3 and outs.
A lot of June Jones' stuff was like that. You need the right personnel to run that stuff and execute it properly. That's the reason 2009 didn't work with Graham calling it...personnel was fine, but there was no rhyme, reason, or rhythm to the play calling.
On SMU, Dexter McCoil tweeted something about how hard it was to cover Cole Beasley at SMU when he was in the slot. I then asked if Emmanuel Sanders was there at the same time Beasley was. He said Sanders, Beasley AND Aldrick Robinson were all there at the same time. How did SMU suck so bad with those 3 guys running pass routes at the same time?
Probably not the best source. Sometimes, parents of kids who are not playing feel like their son is better than the ones who are playing. Coaches makes those decision which have consequences if the are consistently wrong.
Dane pull off one more win all is forgotten. We can make a bowl game and Dane season would be linked to a bowl game. That's would be a successful season. Dane will be pushed in spring ball and he may win the job again but it will help President too for when he takeover as QB.
I understand and fully get that, but right now the K is not even approaching the end zone on kicks. 3-4 vs. UCF barely reached the 5 us line and they were low line drives setting up good returns. If you're only reaching the 5, that kick better be punt height to get coverage downfield.
President will need to show he can throw the ball accurately and consistently. He obviously has not shown that in practice up until now otherwise they would mix things up and catch the D cheating hit having him roll out and throw once or twice. The offense is not broken by any stretch. If the D improves 25% next year that's probably 2 more wins with our offense
If that were happening in practice then they would NOT be sitting during the actual games. Hitting the case center would mean they are legit kicking it 80 yards with over 4 seconds of hang time and have better legs than majority of the guys in the NFL. The top kickoff guys in college are probably sitting around 65-70ish yards on a kick with hang in the high 3s. Is our kick off guy in that category? Definitely not... but I have a hard time believing there's guys sitting the bench that are better. There is some area of concern with the kick off team as a whole but Monty wants to win so you have to give the benefit of the doubt that he is the best we have.
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Cole Way routinely hit the ball out of the endzone, 75 yards with no issues. Even in a decent wind, he was hitting them into the mid-endzone. You can go and comb high schools for soccer goalies to hit kickoffs for you who are capable of putting them into the endzone. I am only relaying the info I was offered. Coming from a parent of a kicker, take it with a grain of salt. The other thing to consider is how said kicker can execute an onside kick...maybe Soper is good at that so its difficult to swap him in when you need an onside kick...its like sending Chad President in and cueing the D that a run is coming.
We must have watched different Cole Ways because I remember the one that kicked line drives with a 62ish yard average and had less than 50% touchbacks...But I am sure he was the best that we had at the time and that is why he was handling the KO duties. I think TUME probably said it best regarding the situation.
Now, you do bring up an interesting point about the onside kick situation. If you take it a step further you have a limited travel roster and maybe Soper has the best ability to make some XPs and short FGs or Punt in a time of adversity. If you're only traveling 53 you probably don't want to waste a bunch of spots on specialists. Traveling a long snapper, punter, KO guy, FG guy will take up a lot of room so if you have a utility specialist you can travel 1 extra specialist but get 3 positions out of it....I certainly agree with you that the KO team as a whole is weak this year and needs improvement but it is obviously going to be what it is for the remainder of this season
That makes more sense about travel and limited space...I do believe it is a 60 man travel roster though. 53 is the NFL roster. Maybe there are some things I am remembering about Cole, but it seemed as long as there wasn't a strong wind, he reached the endzone nearly every time. Stats from 2013 say 63.75 avg., 60% touchbacks. We're not anywhere close to 60% this year. And Cole did kick a lot of line drives but those almost always found the end zone. His shorter kicks went much higher.
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