The Bobcat Nation

I had been privately theorizing for a long time that perhaps Coach K himself is partly responsible for the sporadic nature of our kicking game.

Then, at the game this weekend, I had a conversation with a fellow poster who basically reiterated my suspicions without me even bringing the subject up.

We all know that Kramer puts tremendous pressure on our kickers, a lot more than the other positions, it seems. It is a different kind of pressure than the kind EJ faced during his game winner on Saturday. It's the pressure of knowing that if you do slip up on a kick, god forbid, it could be the last time you get a chance for years.

Look at EJ's example. He stood quietly on the sidelines all of last year after he had a rough opening week (if I remember events correctly). One chance and thats it, you might as well not show up for the rest of the season. Now hes kicked two last-second, game winning field goals for us. Those aren't kicks you make if your a bad kicker.

I'm just glad EJ stuck it out with us, as I think he'll be important down the road this season. I'm also pretty happy with the future of our kicking game. I just wish Krames would let them screw up and mature thru their mistakes, instead of keeping this perpetual rotating hotseat thats been going on for a few years now.

Until we start awarding a scholarship for a kicker then that's the boat we float with.

I agree completely GD. The string is a lot shorter with the kicker than any other position. How many dropped passes did Gatewood have in the first two games - and no chance of him going down the depth chart? By the way I thought he had some good catches yesterday. One was called back on a holding call but he looks a lot better. I have always thought EJ was getting a bum deal and wrote several posts to that effect. I am glad he stuck it out and got this chance.

I'd have to mildly disagree. I know kicking is hard, and I know I can't do it. But if that's all a guy has to do, he should get pretty good at it.

Last season Cochrane had every opportunity to be long kickoff man. He must have kicked it out of bounds half a dozen times. It was almost comical. Thus we had Nate Cook squib kicking it most of the time and letting the opponent start at the 35.

If I recall, in the EWU game last season Cochrane was called on to kick a fairly long field goal. I don't think it ever got more than 8 feet off the ground.

I also saw him in one of the spring scrimmages. He would kick one perfectly and the shank the next one. He's been consistently inconsistent throughout his career. Whereas the last couple of seasons Nate Cook got the job done-sure even his extra points would barely dribble over the cross-bar, but he did okay.

So far this season Cochrane has seemed to get the bugs worked out. He missed his only fg attempt at CSU, but at least the kick got up in the air and had a chance. Since that miss, his kicks have been straight and powerful. I think if just kicks everything like an extra point he'll do great.

It's easy to forget that it's just not the kicker who's involved. At EWU we are currently rotating kickers(other than kick-offs) every other kick. That sucks. We have also gone thru three holders. That sucks. We also have gone thru three snappers. That sucks. The snapper, holder, kicker and even blockers all play onto this timing issue of a successful kicking game.

In my opinion the "kickers" are not the only players that have been effected mentally by Krames.....

mjc, I agree with you completely!

CatfaninGA wrote:Until we start awarding a scholarship for a kicker then that's the boat we float with.

I believe that Doroski and Bolton are both on scholarships, although I don't know if they are full/partial.

EJ has certainly had his problems, but I have to say that I am really, really happy for him. He is a good kid, he works hard, and he has never given up, even if some of us had given up on him (guilty ). He has looked great these last two games. Maybe it is helping that he doesn't have to worry about kicking off and he can concentrate solely on place kicking? Whatever the case, thanks for making believers out of us, EJ, and keep up the good work! Karma can be a bitch, but it can also work out in your favor...

BelgradeBobcat wrote:I'd have to mildly disagree. I know kicking is hard, and I know I can't do it. But if that's all a guy has to do, he should get pretty good at it.

Last season Cochrane had every opportunity to be long kickoff man. He must have kicked it out of bounds half a dozen times. It was almost comical. Thus we had Nate Cook squib kicking it most of the time and letting the opponent start at the 35.

If I recall, in the EWU game last season Cochrane was called on to kick a fairly long field goal. I don't think it ever got more than 8 feet off the ground.

I also saw him in one of the spring scrimmages. He would kick one perfectly and the shank the next one. He's been consistently inconsistent throughout his career. Whereas the last couple of seasons Nate Cook got the job done-sure even his extra points would barely dribble over the cross-bar, but he did okay.

So far this season Cochrane has seemed to get the bugs worked out. He missed his only fg attempt at CSU, but at least the kick got up in the air and had a chance. Since that miss, his kicks have been straight and powerful. I think if just kicks everything like an extra point he'll do great.

I agree too, when he kicks it with force/confidence like an extra point he usually kicks it through. When he thinks about it too much he doesn't lay into it as much and it bobbles/hooks it seems like. Thats why I knew he was gonna make that kick this weekend. Everyone in the stands knew he was gonna miss it and he just calmly walked up there with no pressure (as everyone 'knew' he would miss) and drilled it! I think we just need to get confidence in him (which is already building) and he will be fine by the end of the year. I also agree that the switching around/holders/kickers etc. does affect the kickers MIND FRAME and reduces their confidence.

Cochrane just got a BIG BOOST of confidence this last game. I think he's gonna run with hit and be very good kicking for us the rest of the year.