[personal] RE: [Husker] UT-NU Observations from the Press Box

Tue Oct 24 06:51:17 CDT 2006

No one ever said that 50+ yd FG were the norm or a high percentage play. But neither is a Hail Mary pass. How often do those succeed?

Greg Zimmerman, UNL '75
Overland Park, Kansas

----- Original Message -----
From: Skylar Dodds <Sklarbodds at cox.net>
Date: Monday, October 23, 2006 4:55 pm
Subject: Re: [personal] RE: [Husker] UT-NU Observations from the Press Box

> Hello Husker Fans,
> 
> Very few kickers can hit from 58 with any sort of consistency. Seeing
> as how 28% of all 50+ yard field goals are made from 4 kickers (see
> below), it seems obvious that 50+ yard field goal kickers are not the
> norm. Let's be frank here, we're not just talking about 50, we're
> talking about 58 which is a lot closer to 60, a near impossible range
> for ANY kicker. In fact, only 5 kickers in the HISTORY of the NFL have
> kicked 59 yards or longer (Tom Dempsey, Jason Elam, Steve Cox, Morten
> Anderson, and recently Matt Bryant). But sure, most high school kids
> can do it.
> 
> I would even say that very few kickers can hit from 45+ with
> consistency. Even out of our more recent kickers, I would think Josh
> Brown (career high of 58 btw and 9/15 from 50+ in the NFL) would be
> one of the few that can do it regularly.
> 
> NCAA Stats on 50+ yard kicks:
> All Div I schools: 36 of 86 or 41.9% from 50+, 0 of 3 from 60+ (CU 
> 0-2
> and New Mex 0-1)
> 
> Attempts: 55 schools have attempted 50+ kicks, Only 4 schools have
> attempted more than 2 (WF 4-6, OSU 2-4, KSU 2-3, Colorado 2-4).  Of
> those 55, 27 have never made one (49.1%)
> 
> If a bunch of HS kids can kick 50+ regularly, they sure seem to forget
> when they get to college and the NFL.
> 
> -- 
> Go Skers,
> Skylar                            mailto:Sklarbodds at cox.net
> 
> JV> Steve,
> 
> JV> I could have sworn from my seat that it was just inside the 
> 45, which
> JV> would be a 62-yard attempt but I could be wrong. Either way it 
> is a kick
> JV> that is way outside of our guy's range, even with the wind - 
> which while
> JV> at his back was also swirling pretty heavily. Anyone catch how the
> JV> balloons swirled around field level after the first touchdown? 
> 
> 
> JV> My job takes me to a lot of college and NFL games and a fair 
> amount of
> JV> HS games too and to imply that there are all kinds of HS 
> kickers who can
> JV> routinely make 50+ yard field goals or that there are random kids
> JV> walking the campus in Lincoln right now that could make them 
> also might
> JV> be a little misleading and probably a lot absurd. 
> 
> JV> Consider that in the NFL, home to arguably the sport's best 
> kickers,JV> through Week 7 only 13 of the 30 leading FG kickers in 
> the NFL have a
> JV> long field goal make in excess of 50 yards and that NONE has a 
> FG make
> JV> like the 58 yd FG people are suggesting that we should have 
> tried. In
> JV> fact only 1 kicker in the NFL period (who is not in the top 30 
> in FG
> JV> makes) has a make of 58 yards +, and that is Matt Bryant of 
> Tampa Bay
> JV> (who kicked a 62-yarder to win the game on Sunday). Further, 
> throughJV> Week 7 in the NFL, 11 teams or nearly 1/3 of the 
> league, haven't even
> JV> attempted a FG in excess of 50 yards and amongst teams that have
> JV> attempted at least one the results are 19 makes against 44 
> misses - a
> JV> conversion percentage of only 43%. Of those teams, 6 or nearly 
> 20% of
> JV> the league have made 0% or none of their 50+ yd attempts. 
> 
> JV> So do the special teams need help - absolutely. But, could any 
> kicker on
> JV> the roster, your average HS kicker, some mystery student 
> walking the
> JV> campus or even your average NFL kicker likely have made a FG 
> of 50+
> JV> yards - nevertheless one from 58 yards with a swirling wind - 
> PROBABLYJV> NOT!!!! 
> 
> JV> The hail mary was without question our best option to score 
> and to
> JV> suggest otherwise is just an excuse to criticize the coaching 
> staff - at
> JV> least in my humble opinion. If you throw the hail mary you 
> have the
> JV> chance for an additional penalty (which would have definitely 
> moved the
> JV> ball into FG range) or a tip and a catch for the win. Lining 
> up for a FG
> JV> lets us all watch the ball flutter through the air and land at 
> the 5 -
> JV> not even close to a make and with no real chance for anything 
> else to
> JV> happen that could extend or win the game. 
> 
> JV> Jeff
> 
> 
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> 
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