FGs

[IronMan70 3,277]

When all this started, you would think the fact that the coach was letting him go for these FGs would have given him more confidence not less. If they hadn't let him go out there would it have messed with his confidence even more ? Who knows but his confidence is down now because he is missing them. I get not asking him to try over 50 yds for now, but from 40-45 yds in he is going to have to go out there and make them. Anything over 45 yds ? Meh, punt it.

[casatiger 513]

Need to keep kicking them.  We are not playing for much more than pride anyway.   

[autan 737]

We've had some pretty ugly kicks this year .Seems the kid has just lost his confidence. Truth be told most of us probably have too, but not Gus.  Unless it's a PAT like kick I think odds might be better at making the 4th down yardage than kicking FG right now.  Gus is pretty quick to make a change with punter but not so much with place-kicker for some reason.

[AU64 10,122]

5 hours ago, aujeff11 said:

I think Gus is just desperate for points. He knows the odds are low but is hoping for a break at this point. If we are talking 45 yard FGs, I think not kicking it could also damage AC’s confidence as he’d assume a vote of no confidence by the staff. We should just ride out AC’s long distance woes. If a shooting guard starts out 0-11 from 3, keep shooting until it falls.. 

Yep..

JMO but if the guy could not regularly make  them from 50+ in practice, Gus would not bother to put him out there in a game.    Coaches obviously know he has the ability …..and just needs to get his head right.....and JMO but the only way for him to get his head right is to get back on that horse and try again. 

[Zeek 16,649]

I’ll echo what the intelligent posters have already said. I have no doubt Anders can sink 60 yarders. However, he was asked to do too much too soon. Hope he gets his psyche right and unless it’s 40 or less let’s go for it.

[McLoofus 35,182]

16 hours ago, AU64 said:

Yep..

JMO but if the guy could not regularly make  them from 50+ in practice, Gus would not bother to put him out there in a game.    Coaches obviously know he has the ability …..and just needs to get his head right.....and JMO but the only way for him to get his head right is to get back on that horse and try again. 

Lol. The dude has missed 7 straight from 50+ and is now missing them from just inside that. I don't know exactly when we crossed the threshold from "let the kid take a shot" to the literal definition of insanity, but it was at least 3 or 4 failed attempts ago. Our coach is telling a freshman, "Hey, nbd but we have no hope of scoring points if you don't hit this very, very difficult kick that you've already missed several times in a row."

When Gus Gusses it up, he really goes for it. 

 

[OnthePlains 2,014]

3 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Lol. The dude has missed 7 straight from 50+ and is now missing them from just inside that. I don't know exactly when we crossed the threshold from "let the kid take a shot" to the literal definition of insanity, but it was at least 3 or 4 failed attempts ago. Our coach is telling a freshman, "Hey, nbd but we have no hope of scoring points if you don't hit this very, very difficult kick that you've already missed several times in a row."

When Gus Gusses it up, he really goes for it. 

 

Hey man, Gus is “All In” 

[Tiger 8,818]

Keep kicking em. He can only kick his way out of the slump and we aren't playing for anything of true value anymore. But experience will serve us well in the next year or 2.

Daniel only hit ~75% of his FGs his freshman year if I'm not mistaken. This wasn't ever going to be a plug and play. You just don't do that when you replace an All-American with a freshman.

 Anders was going to have to take his lumps like any other freshman. Plus, he has not missed many FGs that we expect to make. He missed from 45+ and 50+ which is totally reasonable for a college kicker to miss. Not to mention during his freshman season. 

[Linayus 676]

With our punter - punt anything beyond 45 and pin them inside the 10. Easy choice. Anders is mostly money for anything within 45 yards.

Also - we have a hell of an Aussie football player. Why have we not faked a punt yet? lol

[AU64 10,122]

38 minutes ago, Tiger said:

Keep kicking em. He can only kick his way out of the slump and we aren't playing for anything of true value anymore. But experience will serve us well in the next year or 2.

Daniel only hit ~75% of his FGs his freshman year if I'm not mistaken. This wasn't ever going to be a plug and play. You just don't do that when you replace an All-American with a freshman.

 Anders was going to have to take his lumps like any other freshman. Plus, he has not missed many FGs that we expect to make. He missed from 45+ and 50+ which is totally reasonable for a college kicker to miss. Not to mention during his freshman season. 

I agree with everything except the freshman comment....he is a RS and has had year to get acclimated to the big stage....though it's not worked out well for him.  BUT as you say, he's probably not going to get better sitting on the bench

And JMO, but if we decide not to attempt long FGs which I think would be a mistake, then we should set up the offense with a "four down" strategy and got for it on forth.   Our offense has been spotty at best in keeping opponents bottled up down near their own goal lines anyway. …. so, IMO, there is no point in punting when the net yardage is just going to be 20 yards or so...just go for it on fourth and take the chance. 

[Tiger 8,818]

2 minutes ago, AU64 said:

I agree with everything except the freshman comment....he is a RS and has had year to get acclimated to the big stage....though it's not worked out well for him.  BUT as you say, he's probably not going to get better sitting on the bench

And JMO, but if we decide not to attempt long FGs which I think would be a mistake, then we should set up the offense with a "four down" strategy and got for it on forth.   Our offense has been spotty at best in keeping opponents bottled up down near their own goal lines anyway. …. so, IMO, there is no point in punting when the net yardage is just going to be 20 yards or so...just go for it on fourth and take the chance. 

I'm totally with you on 4 down territory. At the very least it mitigates our guaranteed 1-2 yard gain on 1st down up the gut and gives us an extra down to make up for the wasted play.

IMO RS FR vs FR is not a big difference. All it means is that he's been inside the stadium on gamedays 5 or 6 times more than a true FR. He went into the year getting the same amount of playing time as a true FR at a position where all eyes are on him. I get he was here for a year but he got zero game experience from that and I think game experience is critical at a position like kicker.

Now, moving forward I would agree that a redshirt FR would not be as inexperienced because of this new 4 game rule where they can play. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

45 minutes ago, AU64 said:

he is a RS and has had year to get acclimated to the big stage

Do you honestly think standing on the sidelines- almost literally in your big brother's shadow- in any way prepares you to actually kick a ball in a game when you know that your offense has very little hope of scoring otherwise?

47 minutes ago, AU64 said:

though it's not worked out well for him.

What are you talking about? He's been one of the best kickers in the country inside of 50 yards. He might still be, or his head coach might have finally shattered his confidence once and for all. We'll see. But it really needs to be said again: Anders Carlson is a very good kicker. He is just not yet an all-timer because this is still his first season. This team has many problems and Anders Carlson is not one of them. 

 

[aujeff11 6,243]

18 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

This team has many problems and Anders Carlson is not one of them. 

 

He’s kicking somewhere near 50 percent on tbe year as a scholarship kicker. That’s a problem because those misses are within his range. We will probably stop using AC from 45+ but that only means one more weapon that Gus doesn’t have in his arsenal. Not that Gus has had it all year.

[WarEagle1983 2,185]

I bet he nails the 50+ kicks in practice though. And that's in all seriousness. It's totally different when you have thousands of fans and the pressure is on to make a kick in a real live game situation. I think it's a lot to ask of him at this point especially since he's been trotted out there so many times and missed the long kicks. STOP it! Build his confidence back up and them let him have a go at it. 

[AU64 10,122]

1 hour ago, WarEagle1983 said:

I bet he nails the 50+ kicks in practice though. And that's in all seriousness. It's totally different when you have thousands of fans and the pressure is on to make a kick in a real live game situation. I think it's a lot to ask of him at this point especially since he's been trotted out there so many times and missed the long kicks. STOP it! Build his confidence back up and them let him have a go at it. 

How do you build up his confidence.?..not sure that kicking 35-40 yard FGs does much ….but as you note, kicking them regularly in practice should provide him with some confidence that kicks like that are easily within his range.   A few years ago one of our guys missed 5 FGs in a game but he kept at it and got back on target.  Just gotta be patient with the guy.....but I don't advocate giving up on him ...even for the long kicks.  JMO

[AUloggerhead 2,229]

2 hours ago, AU64 said:

How do you build up his confidence.?..not sure that kicking 35-40 yard FGs does much ….but as you note, kicking them regularly in practice should provide him with some confidence that kicks like that are easily within his range.   A few years ago one of our guys missed 5 FGs in a game but he kept at it and got back on target.  Just gotta be patient with the guy.....but I don't advocate giving up on him ...even for the long kicks.  JMO

Hmmm .... no.  Sending a kicker out there for another chance to miss another kick "may" do something for that kicker's confidence but it does nothing for the rest of the team:    it sends the signal to the offense that the coach has no confidence in them making a 4th and (any distance), and it doesn't do the defense's confidence any good since they'll probably be defending another short field ... again.  Time for the coach to hold tryouts for any team member to kick FGs.  I'm willing to bet Siposs could score a drop-kick FG.  . 

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

Freaking have him doing it in practice with the stipulation that every miss makes the entire team hit a suicide. Making your teammates run while you watch due to your inabilities, excellent way to add stress to a practice situation.

On the line gentlemen, this one will be done in 25 seconds or do it again, thank to Mr. So n So's inability to put his shots on frame.

[tdburger 37]

7 hours ago, Tiger said:

Keep kicking em. He can only kick his way out of the slump and we aren't playing for anything of true value anymore. But experience will serve us well in the next year or 2.

Daniel only hit ~75% of his FGs his freshman year if I'm not mistaken. This wasn't ever going to be a plug and play. You just don't do that when you replace an All-American with a freshman.

 Anders was going to have to take his lumps like any other freshman. Plus, he has not missed many FGs that we expect to make. He missed from 45+ and 50+ which is totally reasonable for a college kicker to miss. Not to mention during his freshman season. 

Agree. And we should be making TDs so he doesn't have to kick those long ones.

[alexava 6,973]

5 minutes ago, Texan4Auburn said:

Freaking have him doing it in practice with the stipulation that every miss makes the entire team hit a suicide. Making your teammates run while you watch due to your inabilities, excellent way to add stress to a practice situation.

On the line gentlemen, this one will be done in 25 seconds or do it again, thank to Mr. So n So's inability to put his shots on frame.

Have Jeffry Dean Morgan strut around behind him with a baseball bat. Lol. 

[AU64 10,122]

1 hour ago, AUloggerhead said:

Hmmm .... no.  Sending a kicker out there for another chance to miss another kick "may" do something for that kicker's confidence but it does nothing for the rest of the team:    it sends the signal to the offense that the coach has no confidence in them making a 4th and (any distance), and it doesn't do the defense's confidence any good since they'll probably be defending another short field ... again.  Time for the coach to hold tryouts for any team member to kick FGs.  I'm willing to bet Siposs could score a drop-kick FG.  . 

Not sending him says what?     And who knows where the magic point is where his problems start ?. 

I'm betting he makes them in practice or he would not be out there.  Just think that a missed 50 yard field goal gives the ball to the other team on about the 32 or so.....not exactly a short field and a punt as has been suggested might shorten the field another 15 yard or so which is not significant.  Also  note that the Aussie football is not shaped like the US football which has a much sharper end that is not well suited for drop kicking.  

There is no easy solution.....except IMO keep trying....like someone noted in basketball...when a guy has a cold streak he usually has to shoot his way out of it. 

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

7 minutes ago, alexava said:

Have Jeffry Dean Morgan strut around behind him with a baseball bat. Lol. 

Some random walk on with his skull bashed in in front of him.

I had a coach that did that for soccer. Sit there 20 yards out, take 20 balls. Roll 10 left and 10 right, soon as you released your shot he would roll the other so it went quick and you were at a sprint the whole time. Added up the missed shots at the end and made you watch the rest run.

All shots also had to be one timers also.

[McLoofus 35,182]

16 hours ago, WarEagle1983 said:

I bet he nails the 50+ kicks in practice though. And that's in all seriousness. It's totally different when you have thousands of fans and the pressure is on to make a kick in a real live game situation. I think it's a lot to ask of him at this point especially since he's been trotted out there so many times and missed the long kicks. STOP it! Build his confidence back up and them let him have a go at it. 

I imagine most kids are hitting 50 yarders in practice these days. Even bama's string of terrible kickers probably hit them in practice. Like you said, though, practice is nothing like a game. Our coach is demonstrating the definition of insanity right before eyes every week. 

Almost everyone is looking at this rationally. There's always this nagging exception who is willing to consider any possibility as long as that possibility doesn't involve blaming the head coach in any way for the shortcomings of the team he's paid to coach. God forbid we ask why his rickety ass offense can't get into the red zone more regularly.

And lol at the John Vaughn reference. That was 1 game in Red Stick in terrible weather. The other team missed 2 FGs themselves. 

 

[Linayus 676]

16 hours ago, WarEagle1983 said:

I bet he nails the 50+ kicks in practice though. And that's in all seriousness. It's totally different when you have thousands of fans and the pressure is on to make a kick in a real live game situation. I think it's a lot to ask of him at this point especially since he's been trotted out there so many times and missed the long kicks. STOP it! Build his confidence back up and them let him have a go at it. 

 

11 hours ago, AU64 said:

I'm betting he makes them in practice or he would not be out there.  Just think that a missed 50 yard field goal gives the ball to the other team on about the 32 or so.....not exactly a short field and a punt as has been suggested might shorten the field another 15 yard or so which is not significant.  Also  note that the Aussie football is not shaped like the US football which has a much sharper end that is not well suited for drop kicking.  

Quoted you both on this and I've said it before in other threads, but I've watched Anders attempt plenty of kicks beyond 45 in practice/warm ups and he has never been as consistent as Daniel. He has a stronger leg, I believe, but the accuracy drops tremendously beyond 45 for whatever reason.

[aujeff11 6,243]

29 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

There's always this nagging exception who is willing to consider any possibility as long as that possibility doesn't involve blaming the head coach in any way for the shortcomings of the team he's paid to coach. 

Keep stirring that pot, loof. Your schtick of blaming everything on Gus is getting old. Gus isn’t the one missing tbe FGs.

If we can attempt a 45-53 yard FG, I see no reason why we shouldn’t work through AC’s growing pains. He’s already made a 51 yarder against Washington. He can make the kick. You act like Gus is deliberately sabotaging the kicker’s confidence. He’s not. 

The alternative of getting zero points and probably punting for a touchback isn’t worth the possibility for points. 

43 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

God forbid we ask why his rickety ass offense can't get into the red zone more regularly.

And God forbid the day that AC starts hitting them 50+ FGs. Insanity! 

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 hour ago, Linayus said:

Quoted you both on this and I've said it before in other threads, but I've watched Anders attempt plenty of kicks beyond 45 in practice/warm ups and he has never been as consistent as Daniel. He has a stronger leg, I believe, but the accuracy drops tremendously beyond 45 for whatever reason.

Wait, so Anders isn't consistently making them in practice, and Gus still consistently has him trying them in games?

Clean up on aisle 50+, Spin Team.