Kickoffs

Donate To GopherHole
GophersInIowa

GophersInIowa

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 21, 2008
Messages
43,021
Reaction score
24,748
Points
113
It didn't look like it was windy today so I'm wondering why the kickoffs were so short. Did we feel their returners just weren't very good and that it was better to kick it higher and shorter instead of giving them the 25 automatically? Not complaining at all, it seemed to work pretty well, just wondering everyone's thoughts.
 

I noticed that too.

Not overly concerned. Could be something they saw with the NU return game, could be Santoso had a bad cheeseburger last night. It doesn't take a LOT to sap enough energy from a PK to knock off 10 yards or so on his KO's.

My guess is simply Santoso just wasn't feeling it today. Everyone has those days.
 

It was definitely by design. Vault, the NW returner, is a true freshman and I'd say the strategy paid off when he muffed a return at the 3-yard line. IMO, the coaches saw a weakness they could exploit rather than just give NW the ball at the 25 and I think it was the right move.
 

jaymil said:
It was definitely by design. Vault, the NW returner, is a true freshman and I'd say the strategy paid off when he muffed a return at the 3-yard line. IMO, the coaches saw a weakness they could exploit rather than just give NW the ball at the 25 and I think it was the right move.
Click to expand...

Bingo, with no over analyzing needed.
 

Santoso has enough leg to kick it high and deep while keeping it from being a touchback. That combination can pin the opponent with worse starting field position than their own 25.
 


Santoso usually kicks them out of the back of the endzone.....so I was confused as well. A few posters say that it was by design.....exploiting their young kick returners. I say bullocks. Up by seven points with less than two minutes in the game......why would we intentionally give NW a chance to score on a return, like we did.
 

Looked like santoso wasn't feeling it today imo. Had some place Kicks that weren't his usual boomers either
 

They were much higher than normal so I do think they were by design. It's one thing to have one or two be short but they all were.
 

stocker08 said:
Santoso usually kicks them out of the back of the endzone.....so I was confused as well. A few posters say that it was by design.....exploiting their young kick returners. I say bullocks. Up by seven points with less than two minutes in the game......why would we intentionally give NW a chance to score on a return, like we did.
Click to expand...

Ok, coaching genius. NW averaged 14 yards a return and averaged starting on 20 YL.

They didn't.
 



Section 236 yells SKI...U...MAH!!! After all the kickoffs right after the crowd finishes yelling whoaoaooaoooaoaohOOoOOo and the kicker kicks it...and it is sounding louder each game as more fans are getting involved :) could be a nice little new tradition...
 

stocker08 said:
Santoso usually kicks them out of the back of the endzone.....so I was confused as well. A few posters say that it was by design.....exploiting their young kick returners. I say bullocks. Up by seven points with less than two minutes in the game......why would we intentionally give NW a chance to score on a return, like we did.
Click to expand...

It was absolutely by design. I've been wanting this for weeks. Santoso has the leg to kick it high AND deep so why not kick it high and let it land at the goal line so we can pin them or possibly force a turn over. Our special teams are the best in the B1G right now and our coaches know it and are using that to our advantage.

You are looking at it the wrong way. Our coaches weren't intentionally giving them a chance to return it. They were giving our special teams a chance to make a big play, maybe get a turn over or pin them deep. It also worked BTW. We pinned them at the 3 once and should have had a safety if the refs weren't being paid by the chicago mafia.
 

Aside from the ridiculous notion that a coach would favor a return over a touchback, Kill said this morning on the radio that it wasn't by design.
 

Maximus said:
Aside from the ridiculous notion that a coach would favor a return over a touchback, Kill said this morning on the radio that it wasn't by design.
Click to expand...

He did? Because of my drive home from yesterday's game, he specifically said in the post game radio interview that it WAS by design. He said they felt they could pin them deep. Maybe he changed his mind.
 



Sid asked about this for the Coach Kill segment on Sid and Dave.

Coach basically indicated it was just how Ryan was kicking the ball yesterday.

As long as the other 10 players on the KO special team plays like yesterday, I'm a little less nervous about allowing the return.

Funny, I guess I was getting spoiled with the touchbacks.

Strange times indeed.

Go Gophers! Beat Purdue!
 

tjgopher said:
He did? Because of my drive home from yesterday's game, he specifically said in the post game radio interview that it WAS by design. He said they felt they could pin them deep. Maybe he changed his mind.
Click to expand...

Huh...the plot thickens. Nbd since the game is over, but I thought it was great strategy. NW's special teams were clearly inferior, so why not exploit that? In addition to the one KO fumbled out of bounds, there were two others where we pinned them deeper than the 25 -- one of which was around the 15 if I'm not mistaken. So if he's now saying it WASN'T by design, then I guess it was a happy accident.
 

The players on the KO team must like it. This is their chance to play. Probably nothing more frustrating to them than running all the way down the field and not be able to hit anyone.
 

tjgopher said:
He did? Because of my drive home from yesterday's game, he specifically said in the post game radio interview that it WAS by design. He said they felt they could pin them deep. Maybe he changed his mind.
Click to expand...

Coach speak?
 

Iceland12 said:
Coach speak?
Click to expand...

Could have been, but he answered with a fairly detailed response (paraphrasing) that they felt field position would be the key to the game and they felt they could pin NU deep on kickoffs so they decided to hang the kicks up high and cover, and he added that Mortell did a nice job on punts, etc., and that was a key to the game.
 

tjgopher said:
Could have been, but he answered with a fairly detailed response (paraphrasing) that they felt field position would be the key to the game and they felt they could pin NU deep on kickoffs so they decided to hang the kicks up high and cover, and he added that Mortell did a nice job on punts, etc., and that was a key to the game.
Click to expand...

No, I believe you, just taking a shot at people who all but called Fitzgerald a liar for saying good things about Kill and the Gophers. I should have used a ;)

The response today may be to forestall teams preparing for that those very things. Better they think that Santoso can no longer kick. :eek:
 

Kill said today that Santoso's mechanics were off. I stand corrected.

We should be so lucky that when our kicker's mechanics are off that our opponent ends up with worse average field possession than when he kicks the ball through every time.

Now that's good karma.
 

I'm thinking he choose a different ball, one with a different dimple structure that causes the ball to rise higher but with more backspin.
 


station19 said:
I'm thinking he choose a different ball, one with a different dimple structure that causes the ball to rise higher but with more backspin.
Click to expand...

So dimples (dimples go inward) or pimples (pimples go outward)?

Golf balls have dimples. Footballs have pimples. The good Dr.Don has spoken. I have never observed dimples on one's ass. Pimples? Not a pretty sight.
 

Maximus said:
Aside from the ridiculous notion that a coach would favor a return over a touchback, Kill said this morning on the radio that it wasn't by design.
Click to expand...

Who is a person to believe, bottlebass or cosch Kill?:confused:
 

Maximus said:
Aside from the ridiculous notion that a coach would favor a return over a touchback, Kill said this morning on the radio that it wasn't by design.
Click to expand...

Kickoffs? Kickoffs?

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/p3-eavMSBnk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 

Killjoy said:
Who is a person to believe, bottlebass or cosch Kill?:confused:
Click to expand...

Well since both Coach Kill and I said the same thing I guess you can believe both? He was very descriptive in his post game interview stating it WAS by design. Maybe his answer on sunday was to disguise it from other teams, I don't know. But it was more than a coincidence that EVERY one of Santoso's kicks were high and short when he is booting it out of the endzone on 85% of his kicks this year. You can believe what you want, but it was obviously by design.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom