Place Kicking Situation?

[arndtjc]

Losing Ruffer this year, do we have anyone else coming in next year? Tausch will be a senior, and I hope we've got another guy that will get to be groomed into a starting role after Nick leaves?

 

[military_irish]

Brindza would be my guess. He has a leg.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

We have 3 placekickers on scholarship currently; that's ridiculous.

We'll be fine without Ruffer.

 

[arndtjc]

Thanks for the info, I looked at the roster, and it only listed Tausch and Ruffer, so it made me wonder. Ruffer has been so solid, so I got a little worried for a second...

 

[loomis41973]

Place kicking? Could we really do much worse?

 

[BGIF]

Losing Ruffer this year, do we have anyone else coming in next year? Tausch will be a senior, and I hope we've got another guy that will get to be groomed into a starting role after Nick leaves?

Brindza. If Ruffer and Tausch weren't on the team, he'd be kicking FGs now. Check his recruiting profile.

 

[DillonHall]

Brindza would be my guess. He has a leg.

Apparently he lost that leg sometime between high school and college. He can barely get it to the 10 yard line on kickoffs and it's usually dangerously close to the sideline.

 

[military_irish]

Apparently he lost that leg sometime between high school and college. He can barely get it to the 10 yard line on kickoffs and it's usually dangerously close to the sideline.

I don't know what his problem was this game. Ever kick was near the sidelines, a few in past games were near the sideline, too. He has some deep kicks earlier this year though.

 

[DillonHall]

I don't know what his problem was this game. Ever kick was near the sidelines, a few in past games were near the sideline, too. He has some deep kicks earlier this year though.

Maybe he needs to go back to those neon shoes

 

[Old Man Mike]

Coach has addressed this issue several weeks ago. He said in a presscon that all the active kickers do their craft extremely well in practice, so much so that you'd have no doubt that you had a great set of them. Then along comes the game and that practice performance "is not translating to the field".

Asked what then can the coaching staff do? Kelly said that they work with them every day and then it's up to the players to get it right when it counts. Since then both Ruffer and Turk have done what Kelly expected and have kicked well. Only Brindza has remained "boggled" when it comes to actual game conditions. Because Brindza CAN do the job [including field goals] as he shows in practice, one would hope that between freshman and sophomore year he will get his mind straightened out. Obviously Kelly thinks this too.

Coach has a convenient back-up plan. Nick Tausch was not that bad of a kicker before Ruffer unseated him. If Brindza cannot calm down on anything but kick-offs, then Tausch would probably be acceptable at field goals in his senior year. I doubt that we'll be in any trouble at all here next season.

 

[loweND]

It's easy to forget that Tausch was actually really dependable his freshman year. In fact, it was pretty shocking when Ruffer won the job last year. Does anybody know if Tausch is eligible for a 5th? I think he may have kicked one this year - but last year...?

 

[clashmore_mike]

Apparently he lost that leg sometime between high school and college. He can barely get it to the 10 yard line on kickoffs and it's usually dangerously close to the sideline.

He's been dealing with some kind of injury to his foot for the last month or so.

 

[IrishFBfanatic]

It's easy to forget that Tausch was actually really dependable his freshman year. In fact, it was pretty shocking when Ruffer won the job last year. Does anybody know if Tausch is eligible for a 5th? I think he may have kicked one this year - but last year...?

Pretty sure he hasn't kicked one yet this year. He kicked once in the sun bowl last season.