'09 FL P Ben Turk (ND Verbal 6/11/08)

[phgreek]

That's ok, I bet Manti could outpunt Turk.

...funny

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

I don't think he's had a decent punt in his career.

 

[pkt77242]

I don't think he's had a decent punt in his career.

Did you not watch the MSU game yesterday? He had a beautiful punt down to the 2.

Turk isn't a good punter but he had a couple of decent punts yesterday plus the one beauty.

 

[Irish4Life09]

Did you not watch the MSU game yesterday? He had a beautiful punt down to the 2.

Turk isn't a good punter but he had a couple of decent punts yesterday plus the one beauty.

If you go back and look at it, it was a bad punt,with a good result. It only went about 25-30 yards in the air,and he got lucky it went end over end and confused the returner...thats why we were able to down it so far back.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

If you go back and look at it, it was a bad punt,with a good result. It only went about 25-30 yards in the air,and he got lucky it went end over end and confused the returner...thats why we were able to down it so far back.

It was a very well placed punt.

That said, I don't think he's had an amazing deep punt.

 

[pkt77242]

If you go back and look at it, it was a bad punt,with a good result. It only went about 25-30 yards in the air,and he got lucky it went end over end and confused the returner...thats why we were able to down it so far back.

I know he kicked a low liner that probably went 30 yards in the air and then rolled the rest of the way. But the end result is what matters, if he hit a beautiful booming 50 yard punt that went into the endzone, we would all be cursing him. Who gives a **** if it was ugly, it was effective.

 

[meowmix]

He should only punt rugby-style.

 

[Irish4Life09]

I know he kicked a low liner that probably went 30 yards in the air and then rolled the rest of the way. But the end result is what matters, if he hit a beautiful booming 50 yard punt that went into the endzone, we would all be cursing him. Who gives a **** if it was ugly, it was effective.

I think everyone on here besides you gives a crap on whether he hits ugly punts or not...the kid can't punt further than 30 yards which is pathetic,and really sad on our team's part that we don't have anyone better.

 

[pkt77242]

I think everyone on here besides you gives a crap on whether he hits ugly punts or not...the kid can't punt further than 30 yards which is pathetic,and really sad on our team's part that we don't have anyone better.

I was talking about that one particular punt that went down to the 2. I would actually like to see Brindza, as I pointed out in my post. If all of his punts were ugly but rolled so that they avg. 40ish I would take it and be happy. My point is who cares about how pretty the punt is as long as you avg 40 yards.

 

[Irish4Life09]

I was talking about that one particular punt that went down to the 2. I would actually like to see Brindza, as I pointed out in my post. If all of his punts were ugly but rolled so that they avg. 40ish I would take it and be happy. My point is who cares about how pretty the punt is as long as you avg 40 yards.

If Turk had the ability to average 40 yards per punt I would agree that it only matters how he doesnt...he just simply cant.Not only can he not punt a good distance,his hangtime is also week which hurts our coverage team.
I'd love to see Brindza too. I can't fathom how he is nowhere near Turk's ability....that boggles my mind.

 

[NDinL.A.]

If Turk had the ability to average 40 yards per punt I would agree that it only matters how he doesnt...he just simply cant.Not only can he not punt a good distance,his hangtime is also week which hurts our coverage team.
I'd love to see Brindza too. I can't fathom how he is nowhere near Turk's ability....that boggles my mind.

It shouldn't boggle your mind. If Brindza can't do it in practice, then no way in hell do you put a freshman into the pressure cooker like that until he's proven that he can at least do it in practice. ND writers (like the coaches have been saying) who saw some practices said that Turk outkicked Brindza quite easily.

And it's more than just kicking. It's the ability to get the ball off on time, which Turk does and apparently Brindza still takes too long. And what about hands? Does Brindza catch everything the way Turk has? Did you see those ground balls Turk was catching vs. Michigan??? Those were huge pick-ups!

Now, I completely understand people wanting to bench Turk. Lord knows I scream it all the time myself. But until Brindza can do everything a punter needs to do in practice, well, Kelly's hands are tied. It's on Turk to nut up and kick like he does in practice...

 

[Irish Fam]

That punt to the 2 was clutch. not pretty, but clutch. That said, we need a new punter. im getting pretty sick of 30 yard punts. i imagine the men's soccer goalie can punt it further. and im assuming he has good hands...

 

[D-BOE34]

I had 9 punts my senior year and averaged over 45 yards a punt. However, they were the worst punts you would ever see! Maybe 25 yards in the air on several. LOL ... That is why I only had 9.

Either way, we need a new guy back there. Really, what bad would it do to throw Brindza in for a chance. Look how it worked out for Tommy!

 

[irish4ever]

No matter how you want to cut it, Turk is NOT very good at punting (in games anyway)! Granted, maybe he's the best that ND has on the squad, but that still doesn't change the fact that he sux back there! If his nickname isn't "shank", then it should be!

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Can we have an open tryout please...there has to be someone on the Rguby team that can punt.

 

[NDFANnSouthWest]

Can't give up on the Kid...I am not happy about his punting however, one key play in the game is when he pinned MSU down on the near goal line.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/V8lT1o0sDwI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[D-BOE34]

Just going off all punts he has made before that one, I will say it was more luck than skill.

 

[anarin]

Kelly said punt return is a position that will continue to be evaluated, including taking a look at Robby Toma, and that he’s open to searching the Notre Dame student body for other options at punter. He found a strong punter that way while at Grand Valley State.

“Obviously we were disappointed that we put the ball on the ground again in punt return,” Kelly said. “We feel like John has great hands. It’s not certainly where we want to be, but it’s not like we have a number of guys we can go to either. ... If you know somebody [who can punt], you can reach me at 574 ....”

Now I know someone on this site (and is currently enrolled) can punt better then turk. Man up and go to practice!

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

Bturk35 Ben Turk®
“@uhnd: Is it bad that Pitt's QB is a better punter than Notre Dame's punter?” yea he has a great leg, thanks for the support


Guys, Ben has irritated me as much as the next guy...

But this in example of why we need to support all of our players.. Ben played well today, and we need to rally for all of our "struggling" players, including Gary Gray.

This just goes to show that players really do listen to what us fans have to say..

I've learned my lesson, hope you guys do too.

 

[jason_h537]

Ben had a good game today, hope this is him turning it around

 

[meowmix]

I'll definitely back off of Turk, at least until his next 20-yard punt (hopefully never again). He had to field quite a few awful snaps and consistently pinned Pitt inside the 20. Good job by him today. If any of you have twitter give him some props for today. It can't be fun knowing that your own fanbase thinks you suck.

 

[Irish4Life09]

I'll definitely back off of Turk, at least until his next 20-yard punt (hopefully never again). He had to field quite a few awful snaps and consistently pinned Pitt inside the 20. Good job by him today. If any of you have twitter give him some props for today. It can't be fun knowing that your own fanbase thinks you suck.

+1. Turk had a good day today. I'll fully admit I've been one of the first to throw him to the wolves, but he stepped up today. I'll lay off him a while.

 

[DANsanity15]

That Ben Turk tweet is hilarious to me I'm sorry...I support him and all, and that was a very professional response.

 

[GoldenIsThyFame]

Useless stat of the day:
Ben Turk is second on the team in reps of 225 with 29.

Braxston is 1st (obviously) with 38/39.

 

[IrishGD31]

Useless stat of the day:
Ben Turk is second on the team in reps of 225 with 29.

Braxston is 1st (obviously) with 38/39.

Where did you read this? I'm not doubting you but I really hope it isn't true. If true, this would put us well in the bottom 25% of all D1 programs. At the D3 school I went to, there were at least 5 guys above 30. Now, I'm not saying that bench press is the end all be all, or even a very good indicator of team strength. But, if true, this wouldn't even put us in the same universe numbers-wise with any top programs and, at a certain point, that wide a gap even on a fairly inapplicable exercise as the bench press does indicate a severe disadvantage in team strength.

I'm just hoping that somehow you misread or the reporter misunderstood or something, anything that would make this not true.

 

[NDdomer2]

It was in his post practice interview yesterday. See the spring practice thread and you can watch.

 

[FLDomer]

I dont know if I should give congrats to Turk or be a little disappointed the rest of our team beside Cave are getting shown up by our punter!

 

[NDdomer2]

He won't be the first punter to out-bench his teammates. He punts, it isn't like his practices are filled with all the other things. Might as well go lift in the spare time.

 

[IrishNJ89]

I thought he was joking when he said that

 

[IrishGD31]

ugggghhhh, I suppose it is possible he was joking, but it doesn't seem that way to me. I just don't see how this isn't going to be something that really hurts us on the field. Mind you, not that I'm an expert, but I personally believe wholeheartedly in the MoveNat/Primal/Bodyweight models of exercise, even for strength/explosive athletes like football players. Onwualu is a great example of a kid who has low bench numbers but fantastic functional strength and I think he is going to prove how powerful that model of exercise science is. BUT, that isn't how our guys have been being trained. I know Longo focuses on flexibility and quickness more than brute strength but at the end of the day, they are still being trained on the powerlifting model. If they were somewhere in the same ballpark as other teams, say 10% or 15% lower, it might not be a huge deal. But, if what Turk said is true, we are probably about 33% lower than the top teams. That is ridiculous and it is definitely something that is going to show up on the field and be a huge disadvantage.