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The Sentinel is doing a three part series this week about the football team. Today was about the offense. I will post more later but here was my favorite part. "I'm not planning on recruiting a kicker to replace Suisham," Brandon said. "We have other pressing position needs." Here is the good part: "All I need is a guy who can make an extra point. If it's fourth down and we're across the 50, we're going for it. That's my Omar Jacobs philosophy...If it's less then five, we're probably going for it."

Kind of reminds me of Amstutz

kdog27 wrote:Kind of reminds me of Amstutz

Bite your tongue. Greg Brandon is HALF the man Tom Amstutz is.

Seriously...what happens if it is the end of a game, and we are down 1 point, and we are on the 25 yard line and there is 00:03 on the clock? We go for it?

Maybe because I am the same size as Brian Leaver, I have always had a certain affinity for kickers...maybe one of the TEs can kick

Early in the season didn't we have someone else kick a FG in one of those blowout games? Was it Timchenko perhaps? I think it might have been against SEMO.

Ummm this is interesting to say the least. I am hoping the remark was made in some sort of jest, but even if it wasn't I suppose we can always attract decent walk on kickers who were all state in soccer in h.s. or something. . .

Wasn't somebody jocking some walk on kicker on the board a month or so ago?

Flipper wrote:Wasn't somebody jocking some walk on kicker on the board a month or so ago?

The kid's name is Eric Soltis, I thought he was walking on this past year, but supposedly since they didn't need him till next year, he never dressed or was on the roster. He'll be a soph (I believe) from Rossford, and made some pretty big kicks for the Bulldogs his senior year.

UM used to talk like that, too. It is dumb, IMO. You might really need a FG sometime. Having said that, we should be able to make our share of 4-5s.

Warthog wrote:The Sentinel is doing a three part series this week about the football team. Today was about the offense. I will post more later but here was my favorite part. "I'm not planning on recruiting a kicker to replace Suisham," Brandon said. "We have other pressing position needs." Here is the good part: "All I need is a guy who can make an extra point. If it's fourth down and we're across the 50, we're going for it. That's my Omar Jacobs philosophy...If it's less then five, we're probably going for it."

He might be right, but I don't agree.

Sometimes I wonder if Brandon gets too caught up on mauling people. Do I care if we have a kicker when we bring in Temple? No. I think we'll manage.

But I would like to have a good kicker at Wisconsin.

I would look for Josef Timchenko to get first crack at kicker. He did an adequate job in the games he appeared in, he has a year of eligibility remaining, and he is on scholarship. I think from 35 yards and in, Josef can do the job. I realize he was originally a punter, but he looks like he might do OK. I would think that our punter Fry would want to concentrate on that very important role. Yes, I would suppose we may go for a few more fourth downs.

Eric Soltis was also a fine high school kicker and I note, as others have, that he is enrolled at BG.

In other recruiting news, I am hearing out of Miami, FL. that corner Antonio Smith will become a Falcon. I know he is mentioned elsewhere on posts as visiting last weekend; he is from Central HS. He would be a fine player and quite a catch if we can beat out the Big East teams for him.

Go Falcons!

Nugent comes to mind when I think about not having/recruiting a good kicker....FG's can be very helpful sometimes.........

Guess this news got some people a little flustered. Maybe I shouldn't have skipped this part of the story:

Brandon is hoping Josef Timchenko can take over for Suisham. Punter Nate Fry, or a walk-on, are other possibilities. "He has a strong leg and good pop," Brandon said about Timchenko, "he just needs to work at it. I'm going to give him the opportunity."

So, it is not like we are going without a kicker. I think Brandon just said this to put morre pressure on opposing defenses. Letting them know that we will not be afraid to go for it on fourth down no matter we are on the field. Also telling Jacobs how much confidence he has in him knowing that we can pick up five yards on any play at any time.

Look at the number of kicks that Suisham made from 40+ last season. Compare that to some of the other top MAC schools.

Bottom line: For all our offensive fireworks, we scored a lot of points via SS's leg. And Schade hit it on the head. When we get involved in a track meet against Boise State, it would be nice to be able to kick a long FG at the end of the game to seal a 73-70 victory. Likewise, when we're playing a team like Wisconsin, a FG at the end of each half could be the difference between a 17-14 loss and a 20-17 win.

Talk to an Oregon State fan about the LSU game, then ask them how important a kicker is.

1987alum wrote:Talk to an Oregon State fan about the LSU game, then ask them how important a kicker is.

Check Brandon's quote again. The guys needs to be able to make extra points to get this job.