Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com

I know there has been some sporadic talk about Nate in various threads, but I think he deserves his own.

I was reading through a couple of threads on www.bobcatattack.com and man are then getting down on Rossman (their kicker). While I was reading the "kill the kicker" threads, I started thinking to myself "boy, I remember when I used to read these exact same threads over at AZZ.com." The key word in that phrase, as you may have guess by the use of italics was "used." Thanks to Nate, these threads have disappeared faster than a Dodo Bird around here. Nate deserves a TON of praise for the way he has performed.

It has been kind of neat to watch his development as a kicker over the past couple of games. He missed his first XP or two, but since the Temple game he has been lights out. He missed his first FG attempt against OU, but made his first later in the game, much to the jubilation of everyone associated with BGSU (who the heck thought we'd make a FG this year?!?!). His kickoffs have been steadily improving as well.

Yes, our special teams have been...well...special. But, the most important aspect of our special teams, our kicker, is working his way toward the Suisham-type kicker that we all knew and loved last year. So long as our special teams personell can start putting themselves in better position to make plays, I suspect we will start to see vastly improved special teams play over the next couple of games.

I never thought I could be such huge fan of a kicker, but nate has proven that prejudice to be very, very wrong. We are luckier than we realize to have a kid with his talent and adaptability on this team.

One of the best things in Boise was watching Nate's dad chart and time all of his punts. He just very quietly and matter of factly would get out the stopwatch, record whatever he does, and then go back to watching.

The game was kind of painful to watch so we found other ways to pass the time.

That was a really cool post, BO! Nate does deserve some kudos. For a guy that hasn't had much of a chance to kick over the last few years, he's stepped up and done pretty well.

Way to be there, Nate. Keep up the good work.

Good post. I'll even take it a step backwards and go back into the preseason when I said aside from questions concerning our defense, that I was most concerned about our kicking game. I received feedback in those posts about how we wouldn't need to worry about our kicking game, we're going to crush everyone and won't need to worry about kicking, etc., etc., etc. Well, after numerous blocked punts, missed extra points and kick return struggles, it sure has gotten a lot more attention now than it did then.

A kicking game, and all special teams play for that matter, are critical to the success to a team. It is such an overlooked part of the game when it goes well, but when it backfires, everyone notices it. Now special teams may not come into play so much against a team like Temple, but when you are playing a Toledo or Miami, or in the MAC Championship or bowl game, you can’t afford to fail time and time again in special teams play. It WILL cost you a game. It could have cost us against Ohio but we were able to overcome it. But do you think our chances would have been good for a victory if that happened against a better team, say Toledo, when we had two blocked punts (one for a TD), two botched kick returns (both led to turnovers deep in our own territory), and several long kickoff returns against us? We would have gotten our @ss handed to us on a platter, that’s what would have happened.

As for Nate, he has done a very nice job since taking over the starting roles on kickoffs and kicks. He’s making his extra points, his kickoffs have been deep and placed well and he’s even had some touchbacks. Also, he’s even made a field goal. I still find myself holding my breath on kick attempts (extra points, field goals) and especially when we line up in that punt formation we use (still don’t know why we can’t line up like 90 percent of the other teams do (did you notice how Ohio’s punter had all day and great protection on his kicks?), but we are making strides. I feel more comfortable with Nate out there and if he continues to improve, we will be in good shape.

I just watched the Motor City Bowl on Sunday and Nate got some booming kicks off in that game. He was able to step up and follow through on his punts without worrying about the "wall" falling in to him.

I am not a coach not criticizing something I have no expertise in, just making an observation that his punts were enjoyable to watch in the normal formation from that game.

Nate IS having a good year, kickoffs are good B/B- and his place kicking is getting better, I believe each game.

I think were are much better off now in the kicking game, from the kicker position standpoint, than we were 3 weeks ago.