Kicking Game?

[oumatt]

Do we have a backup kicker or will we suffer the entire year just like 2015?

5/10 on Field Goals this year and only 8 touchbacks through 4 games.

San Jose (4-4), AirForce (5-5), Fresno (5-6), Hawaii (2-2), UNLV (3-3), New Mexico (3-4), CSU (6-7), SDSU (2-3), and Boise (3-4) have all combined to miss the same number of field goals as Wyoming (5-10). How does every other Mountain West team have a kicker, but Wyoming two years in a row is subpar?

[SDPokeFan]

There are some on this board who will tell you Rothe is the second coming of Adam Vinatieri, simply because he can make an extra point. Last year's kicker set the bar so pathetically low that a 50% make rate is hall of fame worthy.

[McPeachy]

Do we have a backup kicker or will we suffer the entire year just like 2015?

5/10 on Field Goals this year and only 8 touchbacks through 4 games.

San Jose (4-4), AirForce (5-5), Fresno (5-6), Hawaii (2-2), UNLV (3-3), New Mexico (3-4), CSU (6-7), SDSU (2-3), and Boise (3-4) have all combined to miss the same number of field goals as Wyoming (5-10). How does every other Mountain West team have a kicker, but Wyoming two years in a row is subpar?

We are much better off this year than last. Our kicker last year - wasn't a kicker. He was something like 2 of 8 on the year, with multiple missed PAT's. My fat assed alcoholic poop brother could have managed that.

And I blame 'ol Bohly 100% for that experiment. He (Bohly) f-word up...he didn't pay attention, and thought he could get away with a walk-on dufus as a kicker. IF that happened in the SEC, Bohly's ass would have been fired.

Now, here we are, with a talented scholarship-given and recruited kid, thrown squarely into the fire (again, because 'ol Bohly screwed the pooch last year). And I don't blame him for the results right now. That again, is squarely on the shoulders of 'ol Bohly.

That, and whose idiotic idea is it to not allow your kickers to practice with the team each fall for 2 - 3 weeks, so you can get ONE or TWO extra guys a shot at making benchwarmer left, or benchwarmer right? Ugh.

[LanderPoke]

Do we have a backup kicker or will we suffer the entire year just like 2015?

5/10 on Field Goals this year and only 8 touchbacks through 4 games.

San Jose (4-4), AirForce (5-5), Fresno (5-6), Hawaii (2-2), UNLV (3-3), New Mexico (3-4), CSU (6-7), SDSU (2-3), and Boise (3-4) have all combined to miss the same number of field goals as Wyoming (5-10). How does every other Mountain West team have a kicker, but Wyoming two years in a row is subpar?

We are much better off this year than last. Our kicker last year - wasn't a kicker. He was something like 2 of 8 on the year, with multiple missed PAT's. My fat assed alcoholic poop brother could have managed that.

And I blame 'ol Bohly 100% for that experiment. He (Bohly) f-word up...he didn't pay attention, and thought he could get away with a walk-on dufus as a kicker. IF that happened in the SEC, Bohly's ass would have been fired.

Now, here we are, with a talented scholarship-given and recruited kid, thrown squarely into the fire (again, because 'ol Bohly screwed the pooch last year). And I don't blame him for the results right now. That again, is squarely on the shoulders of 'ol Bohly.

That, and whose idiotic idea is it to not allow your kickers to practice with the team each fall for 2 - 3 weeks, so you can get ONE or TWO extra guys a shot at making benchwarmer left, or benchwarmer right? Ugh.

Yeah.... even after last year he doesn't seem to understand the importance of a kicker (extremely important!). Not exactly inspiring.

[stymeman]

Points are important, no matter what, period

[laxwyo]

Mcpeachy is right on. Some dumb decisions can't be corrected in just one year. We are better but throwing a freshmen into the mix, although better this year, isn't the best way to run a program for any position on the field


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[Cornpoke]

That, and whose idiotic idea is it to not allow your kickers to practice with the team each fall for 2 - 3 weeks, so you can get ONE or TWO extra guys a shot at making benchwarmer left, or benchwarmer right? Ugh.

I totally agree with you on that. Two Starters not invited to fall camp? That's just crazy. It doesn't inspire confidence when you feel like your position is not important to the team.

What should we expect from the kicking game when our coaching staff places so little priority on it?

[kansasCowboy]

Do we have a backup kicker or will we suffer the entire year just like 2015?

5/10 on Field Goals this year and only 8 touchbacks through 4 games.

San Jose (4-4), AirForce (5-5), Fresno (5-6), Hawaii (2-2), UNLV (3-3), New Mexico (3-4), CSU (6-7), SDSU (2-3), and Boise (3-4) have all combined to miss the same number of field goals as Wyoming (5-10). How does every other Mountain West team have a kicker, but Wyoming two years in a row is subpar?

Are any of those kickers frosh?

And we can blame Bohl, but Rothe was a 3 star Kicker coming out of High school. Not like we weren't looking for someone legit.

[CowboyNV]

Cornpoke could probably explain the differences from kicking in high school versus college better than anyone, but I believe two major differences are:

High school kickers can use a one or two inch block to place the ball on for field goals and extra points, in college you have to kick off the ground.

Another big difference is the width of the goal posts, 23 feet 4 inches in high school, and 18 feet six inches in college.

I would have to believe these two differences alone would make the transition from high school to college difficult and would take some time to get used to. Throwing a true freshman to the wolves with no back up seems to be a recipe for disaster (at least in year one).

[laxwyo]

I believe Rothe kicked off the ground at least on extra points. Can't remember where I read that but I remember something like that catching my attention


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[oumatt]

That, and whose idiotic idea is it to not allow your kickers to practice with the team each fall for 2 - 3 weeks, so you can get ONE or TWO extra guys a shot at making benchwarmer left, or benchwarmer right? Ugh.

I totally agree with you on that. Two Starters not invited to fall camp? That's just crazy. It doesn't inspire confidence when you feel like your position is not important to the team.

What should we expect from the kicking game when our coaching staff places so little priority on it?

The kicker has been with the team all summer and fall camp. Problem is that he was the only one. Bohl said they weren't going to carry any backup kickers or punters this season. Martin has converted to WR, not that he can even kick FGs. If he could, he would have last year during the drought. Bohl is one injury away from QB pooch punt or going for 2.

[oumatt]

I believe Rothe kicked off the ground at least on extra points. Can't remember where I read that but I remember something like that catching my attention


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By senior year, all high school kickers wanting to play in college have already adjusted to kicking off the ground.

[McPeachy]

The kicker has been with the team all summer and fall camp.

Not true on the fall camp statement. Cooper may have been in Laramie, but was NOT part of team practices (a large portion of them), so that 'ol Bohly could evaluate numbers 106 and 107 (or so).

[oumatt]

http://www.wyosports.net/university_of_ ... f214c.html

http://trib.com/sports/college/wyoming/ ... 192d9.html

I had never heard of the practice of having a scholarship kicker only attend part of fall camp. Another bone head move by Bohl. Last year our kicking game was bad because he didn't bring in a scholarship kicker and this year we're 5/10 on field goals and not making the endzone 60% of the time on kickoffs. Time to bring in a legit special teams coach.

[cowboyz]

http://www.wyosports.net/university_of_ ... f214c.html

http://trib.com/sports/college/wyoming/ ... 192d9.html

I had never heard of the practice of having a scholarship kicker only attend part of fall camp. Another bone head move by Bohl. Last year our kicking game was bad because he didn't bring in a scholarship kicker and this year we're 5/10 on field goals and not making the endzone 60% of the time on kickoffs. Time to bring in a legit special teams coach.

Totally agree. Often a kicker is the team's leading scorer, if they're good and if the coaches use them. As much as kicking off the ground and the narrower goal posts are big changes, there is also the speed and timing (snap to kick) and the ability of the kicker to deliver under pressure. A kicking coach could solve all of this with actual coaching, confidence building and better prep. They don't cost a ton of money to employ and we already have so many coaches on staff. What's one more, that can help deliver points!? Hell, we have a tight end "coaching" our kickers. If we didn't blow a chip shot last week, we could be 3-1, the sky wouldn't be falling in, and we'd all still be riding the wave. A few years ago our kicker was a weapon. Hopefully the coach will recognize this, hire a kicking coach and make us dangerous again. If Bohl is looking to control the clock and win the tight one's, as some of the NDS fans have educated us with, we better have a confident kicker that delivers. It's not just throw a scholarship at him and hope for the best.

[Adv8RU12]

Do the pokes have a psychologist, or better a psychiatrist? They need one to work with the kicker. He was mentally OK until UNI iced him in that game. Now he is unsure of himself. He doesn't have the mental strength, IMO, because of his youth, to be able to shrug it off.

[cowboyz]

I don't think the team has a psychiatrist. Cooper needs to hit a few to build his confidence. The reason they had him kick the 20 yarder vs. UC Davis wasn't to run up the score, but to give him confidence. But the 22 yarder blowing up vs. E. Michigan probably negated any good the 20 yarder created. I didn't see the game, was it a missed assignment from the O line, a low kick, bad snap...?

[WYCowboy]

I don't think the team has a psychiatrist. Cooper needs to hit a few to build his confidence. The reason they had him kick the 20 yarder vs. UC Davis wasn't to run up the score, but to give him confidence. But the 22 yarder blowing up vs. E. Michigan probably negated any good the 20 yarder created. I didn't see the game, was it a missed assignment from the O line, a low kick, bad snap...?

Low kick - don't know if a bad snap caused it or not, but it might have.

[kansasCowboy]

There are a lot of things that could have played a role in that miss. But he also did hit a 37 yarder earlier in the game on the opposite side of the field. And that was in a pretty swirly wind.
Accuracy, timing, the snap, the hold and blocking all have to be perfect at the same time. With what I saw of the miss, Rothe rushed the kick. It also seemed like emu had a good jump on the line and got through to cause him to rush his kick. Can't see the ball placement on the ground from the holder, but typically when a ball isn't held right, or slanted to a side or slightly forward it can cause a kick to not gain altitude as quick. With the jump emu had. Maybe the holder had his nerves shot and didn't have the ball set right.

It is Rothe only?