About that kicking

[Mikey 16,777]

If Carlson's knee injury has made him less effective, let's try the McPherson kid. He was the top-ranked kicker coming out of high school last year and was hitting 60+ yard field goals back then. He certainly should be able to get a kickoff into the end zone. We lost seven points last night because a kickoff was returned for a TD and another one would have gone the distance had Carlson not made a saving tackle. I think we have a kicker on the squad who can get it into the end zone. Why not give him a try?

It's true, anybody can miss a field goal try but it's obvious that Carlson isn't as good as he has been in prior years. If the youngster isn't ready to kick FG's, that's another story but at least lets have kickoffs that are not returnable.

[placekicker 38]

I agree. With what, three regular season games left, McPherson could play in all of them without losing his redshirt. This would be an excellent way to get him some game experience without burning a year of eligibility. 

[ThurstontheWelshCorgi 576]

Carlsons going to finish out the season at #1, he just is in my opinion but he is definitely having issues that should cause us to turn to Mcpherson starting next saturday -- i just dont see it happening

[AU-24 3,116]

1 minute ago, ThurstontheWelshCorgi said:

Carlsons going to finish out the season at #1, he just is in my opinion but he is definitely having issues that should cause us to turn to Mcpherson starting next saturday -- i just dont see it happening

I think Mikey is saying: if nothing else, use McPherson for kickoffs so we don’t have to worry about one being returned for a touchdown etc.

[ThurstontheWelshCorgi 576]

3 minutes ago, AU-24 said:

I think Mikey is saying: if nothing else, use McPherson for kickoffs so we don’t have to worry about one being returned for a touchdown etc.

That would be a wise decision

[Michael X 74]

36 minutes ago, AU-24 said:

I think Mikey is saying: if nothing else, use McPherson for kickoffs so we don’t have to worry about one being returned for a touchdown etc.

Agree. I was at the Arky game last weekend and Carlson put a kickoff out of bounds. Not saying it doesn’t happen to good kickers but it was going to be short of the end zone if it hadn’t gone out. Seems to me like Carlson has lost his mojo.

[Tiger 8,833]

An ACL injury for a kicker is devastating. Hate it for him and the rest of the team

[Win4AU 4,055]

McPherson should have been Auburn's kicker 3 or 4 games ago.

[JMassie11 1,610]

Not 100% sure how the redshirt works for special team guys. That being said with a limited number of games left I would expect to see him these last few games

[au302 2,669]

No doubt the ACL has hurt, but I truly think Anders broke well before that. I was at the LSU game at LSU last year when things were looking promising for this staff, and he was the one guy out there that looked shell shocked. You could tell in his body language he had no confidence. Missed like 3 kicks that game.

Most of these kicks seem to have the distance. Think the ACL may affect him more on the kickoffs, but regardless, it's clear it's time to try Mcpherson. It sucks for Anders, but it's SEC football. No favorites, play the best

[Auburn02 130]

2 hours ago, placekicker said:

I agree. With what, three regular season games left, McPherson could play in all of them without losing his redshirt. This would be an excellent way to get him some game experience without burning a year of eligibility. 

Well said, Alex. 

[alexava 6,973]

Was the wind strong there?

[JMassie11 1,610]

4 minutes ago, alexava said:

Was the wind strong there?

Before the game yes. They also mention Carlson preferred to kick to the closed end zone so maybe it was a vision thing? Notice msu decided not to try for the easy fg to end the game in OT

[NoALtiger 3,873]

It’s crazy not to let Alex at least get some action on kickoffs. Carlson (is now) a very average kicker at best and it bite us last night. 

[EagleEye67 1,945]

2 hours ago, Win4AU said:

McPherson should have been Auburn's kicker 3 or 4 games ago.

I think he would have been, if the incumbent's last name was/is different.

[CameronCrazy 1,104]

Very true - IMO Carlson cost us the game last night. Just think about how many points we left on the field goal by going for it on 4th down in the red zone or going for two instead of taking the points by kicking it. If MSU didn’t have those 7 points from the kickoff return, then we likely don’t have to take those risk in the 2nd half and we score at least 5 more points. 

[Swamp Eagle 5,153]

9 hours ago, AU-24 said:

I think Mikey is saying: if nothing else, use McPherson for kickoffs so we don’t have to worry about one being returned for a touchdown etc.

For sure.

[aucanucktiger 1,805]

Fwiw Carlsons kicking was not the difference last night, if he made the fg in OT so what - Miss St scored a TD anyway, end of game. Also, the clear squib kickoff was not a bad coaching call, the 15 yd AU facemask penalty DURING the squib kick was a killer. McPerson's a rock star, lets try him. Carlsons season has frankly waivered enough to make that a tough call IMO (frosh kickers are not known for coolness under pressure) and Carlsons kicking last night is #83 in the things to worry about. Caddie himself said hed like to have back the chip shot fg instead of going for it on 4 & 5.

[Mikey 16,777]

3 hours ago, aucanucktiger said:

Fwiw Carlsons kicking was not the difference last night,

Giving up 7 points on a KO return and giving up field position after three other KO's certainly did have a bearing on the outcome.

[JBiGGiE 2,488]

I hate to say it, but it's time to take Anders out to pasture...

[AEAugirl 9,635]

Let Carlson keep kicking the FGs but put McPherson in there for the kickoffs.  Go ahead and start getting McPherson ready to take the reigns for next season.  Field position as a result of kickoffs has made a difference this season and it did against MSU.  He can play the rest of the season without losing his RS status. 

[AEAugirl 9,635]

21 hours ago, JMassie11 said:

Not 100% sure how the redshirt works for special team guys. That being said with a limited number of games left I would expect to see him these last few games

Redshirts are the same for every player no matter what position they play.  He could play in every game the rest of the season and still keep his RS.

[dyehardfanAU 2,117]

Anders was always overrated by the fanbase but this latest knee injury has made his play considerably worse.  I hate it for the guy but am glad he will be replaced next season.

[smackydoodle 200]

Anders should only be the extra point option at best. Dude is shaky over 35 yards and nearly a nonfactor over 45. With an offense that stalls out, a better kicker provides a good safety net of points. At this rate, you have to get to the 20 yard line to have confidence Anders makes the kick. As @dyehardfanAU he's always been fairly inconsistent. He's currently 80th in the nation in field goal percentage, which is better than he was last year.

[JBiGGiE 2,488]

1 hour ago, dyehardfanAU said:

Anders was always overrated by the fanbase but this latest knee injury has made his play considerably worse.  I hate it for the guy but am glad he will be replaced next season.

Anders broke all of Daniel's highschool records. There was plenty enough reason to give the benefit of the doubt on Anders.