Two things-Hammock and the punter

[Doc1001]

I loved Hammocks play calling in the Penn State game. Much more wide open and unpredictable. Then against OSU it was Horton all over again. What happened to the gadget plays they were preparing to spring on them? What do they have to lose. Lose by 60 instead of 50? How about an end around--or a flea flicker--or something exciting? Or a different QB? More rolling out. These fans deserve something. But no-its pound the rock up the middle again far too often. ---
Secondly this punter needs some real coaching. He waits too long and almost gets many of them blocked. When he had a bad snap instead of trying to kick it anyway he tries to run for nothing. And last week when the rusher was right on him he didnt try to move out of the way but punted it right into him. Maybe a good coach couldnt figure out why he shanks a few every game but this kid needs some coaching.

 

[MrGopher]

I had an odd thought Saturday night:

I was quite happy to see that the blocked punt ended up being a touchdown instead of a safety. I thought to myself, "That's good because when we get the ball back next, we will be only down 7 more points instead of 9 more points."

 

[BarnBoy]

Agree wholeheartedly. I was at the game with some friends and we were making fun of the play calling. Seems like we ran on 90% of the first downs.

In my book, in a season where you have 1 win and in a game where you are 20-some point dogs to a Top-10 team is a recipe for some offensive creativity. I mean, come on! That's an offensive coordinator's wet dream. High reward. No risk.

 

[tap]

The whole kicking game may be the worst I have ever seen on Sat.:
1. opening kickoff short
2. 11 yard punt
3. missed field goal off the upright
4. blocked punt
5. long punt return
OMG!

 

[Winona Gopher]

The special teams on saturday was atrocious. There has been talk about possibly keeping Hammock over and i would be fine with that, but Butler can be shown the door asap.

 

[WHB Brewer]

50,000 students in the UMN system, and we can't find anyone who can punt the ball?

Pretty amazing when you think about it, and it 's been that way for a long, long, long, long time........

 

[50PoundHead]

I can't remember if it was Gutekunst, Wacker, or Mason who advertised kicking try-outs in the Daily. We are not far from that.

Did we replace the long snapper after the blocked punt. I saw Horton or another coach tell #48 (Filkins) something after the play and then the camera showed Filkins heading over to warm up with a ball in his hands. Anything come of that?

The punting (and punt coverage) was just miserable. Horton gave Oreske an earful when he was coming off the field after the shank. On Oreske's one really good punt, the coverage team broke down completely and Hall almost went all the way with it.

 

[jovs]

I loved Hammocks play calling in the Penn State game. Much more wide open and unpredictable. Then against OSU it was Horton all over again. What happened to the gadget plays they were preparing to spring on them? What do they have to lose. Lose by 60 instead of 50? How about an end around--or a flea flicker--or something exciting? Or a different QB? More rolling out. These fans deserve something. But no-its pound the rock up the middle again far too often. ---
Secondly this punter needs some real coaching. He waits too long and almost gets many of them blocked. When he had a bad snap instead of trying to kick it anyway he tries to run for nothing. And last week when the rusher was right on him he didnt try to move out of the way but punted it right into him. Maybe a good coach couldnt figure out why he shanks a few every game but this kid needs some coaching.

I thought they started out wide open against Ohio State. They were mixing it up in the first quarter. I also thought that when it became apparent that Ohio State was going to score every time they got the ball they shifted to a ball control strategy to limit the possesions, which didn't work to well.

It might have been 85-10 if they had continued with the wide open approach, but what is the big deal, it might have also been 52-28 or something.