Special Teams
- Thread starter KCyclone2010
- Start date
Watch the missed field goal attempt from North Carolina in OT against Nc State this weekend. College kickers are so bad.
There are some really good college kickers- the Michigan guy comes to mind. But I think overall when comparing college to the NFL, as fans we probably need to be realistic in that making 75% of kicks is a solid season. During Campbell's 7 seasons at ISU:
- ISU kickers have made 77% of their FG's
- Netton @ 94% 16-17 1Yr
- Mevis @ 87% 20-23 1 Yr
- Garrett @ 77% 17-22 1 Yr
- Assalley @ 72% 44-61 3 Yrs
- Gilbert @ 63% 12-19 1 Yr
- Opposing Team Kickers have made 70% of their FG's (94-134)
The biggest area where ISU kickers have been deficient is making FG's 40+ yards. During Campbell's tenure ISU kickers have made 57% of kicks over 40 yards. If you exclude Mevis that figure drops to 50%. Our opponents have made 63% of their FG's over 40 yards. Surprising to me, our opponents have taken 1 fewer FG over 40 yards than ISU over the last 7 years.
Aligned with the prior point on length strength our our kickers. Only Mevis (54) and Assalley (50) have made FG's over 50 yards. I gotta believe there was a strong wind at Connor's back
Curious what our missed XP % is compared to the national average as that has been an issue at times lately too.There are some really good college kickers- the Michigan guy comes to mind. But I think overall when comparing college to the NFL, as fans we probably need to be realistic in that making 75% of kicks is a solid season. During Campbell's 7 seasons at ISU:
- ISU kickers have made 77% of their FG's
- Netton @ 94% 16-17 1Yr
- Mevis @ 87% 20-23 1 Yr
- Garrett @ 77% 17-22 1 Yr
- Assalley @ 72% 44-61 3 Yrs
- Gilbert @ 63% 12-19 1 Yr
- Opposing Team Kickers have made 70% of their FG's (94-134)
The biggest area where ISU kickers have been deficient is making FG's 40+ yards. During Campbell's tenure ISU kickers have made 57% of kicks over 40 yards. If you exclude Mevis that figure drops to 50%. Our opponents have made 63% of their FG's over 40 yards. Surprising to me, our opponents have taken 1 fewer FG over 40 yards than ISU over the last 7 years.
Aligned with the prior point on length strength our our kickers. Only Mevis (54) and Assalley (50) have made FG's over 50 yards. I gotta believe there was a strong wind at Connor's back
The number of times we had a blocked punt this year (some times happened more than once in a game too sadly) seemed like a lot more frequent than usual too. But the 1 thing that really has frustrated me for several years now are our coverage and return teams. Still muffing kicks that need to be fair caught or just let go and let the kicking team down it. Heck we've even had problems with our own guys running into each other and causing issues too. On coverage it never fails that we have some ill-timed boneheaded penalty like hitting a guy that waved for a fair catch. A lot of those mistakes are preventable and things that should be a practiced discipline that they rarely occur but they just keep happening way more often than they should. If we aren't going to hire a ST coach then Campbell or someone on the staff needs to basically hold that title in addition to their main responsibility and put an emphasis on improving in this area because its just another place we lost in the margins.
Have XPs been that bad lately? Assalley was good for a miss or 2 every year, did we miss any this year aside from that busted snap that turned into 2 points?
I guess we only missed 1 PAT kick this year, felt like more for some reason. Last year we did not miss one, Assalley missed 2 each season between 2018-2020.
