What I have trouble understanding is supposedly the kickers who are offered scholarships should be able to kick well; why is it that the two kickers earlier in the season had to be replaced finally by Gaudet who seems to be able to kick closer to the end zone? Their kicks were short compared to a lot of other teams kickers; one good example is Ohio St. which seemed to pin us down at the end zone.
one difference i know of: high school allows the use of a "T" on field goals. I also believe the kickoff "T" is lower for college than high school so it is more difficult to get the distance.
I'm excited about the prospect of a kicker that can kick it farther than the 15 yard line. Our short kick offs played a major part in good starting field position for our opposition this year. An occasional touchback would be great!!!!
Yes I noticed the same thing in the championship game. I was very upset that we couldn't get Holliday a chance to return a kickoff and had to keep taking touchbacks most of the time. Our kicker by comparison, was kicking it around the 10.
Many of these HS kickers have a hard time transitioning to kicking in college due a lot to kicking a newer football. In HS a kicker can get away with kicking an older football. The older a football is, the further you tend to be able to kick it. Also going to the 1 inch KO tee makes a difference. Keep your eyes out for an up and coming HS kicker named Josh Lewis. He will be a Sr this coming season in HS and he has a very strong leg. He is already using the 1 inch KO tee and he is kicking a newer football in the game. In one of his last games in 2007 he had 6 touchbacks / (out of the endzone) out of 7 Ko's. That was as a Jr. I would be watching for him if LSU does not get better in 2008 with there KO ability.
well best of luck to him. LSU has a ton of scholarship kickers on roster right now, so it'll be an up-hill climb, but we certainly wish him all the best.
