Heading into the season, we and probably everyone else anticipated that, if nothing else good came of this season, Geoff Price would prove to be a highly capable punter. His season average last year was 45.44 yards per punt. And while his season average is down this year, to just over 41 yards per game, that's still a fairly good average. So is it a matter of consistency? Against Michigan State, Geoff had 2 punts over 50 yards, but still only averaged just under 37 yards per punt for the game. Is it something mental? The punting equivalent of a second baseman that can't throw to 1st?
Meanwhile, Eric Maust, who played the entire game on Saturday and will apparently play the entire game against UCLA, has done pretty well, averaging just over 43 yards per punt.
At any rate, this is a surprising turn of events given that Geoff is a 5th year senior, a member of the team's leadership committee, and really someone that a lot of people believed would be kicking on Sundays.
By Sir John October 2, 2007 - 4:01 pm
Indeed this is another puzzling aspect of this team.
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By The Biscuit October 2, 2007 - 6:45 pm
Totally. I thought this guy would be our rock. He was a Ray Guy award look-out type dude. Meaning everyone else considered him good too. It’s gotta be mental, he was just too good last year for it to be anything but that or an injury…
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By ForeverFaust October 3, 2007 - 12:17 am
It has come to this?! Now that the team is so bad, we are even ripping on the punter! I do agree though with what was said. Maybe he has the same problem as Zibby
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By Sir John October 3, 2007 - 10:20 am
I don’t think anyone ripped on him. It’s just puzzling what the problem is. Whatever it is the coaches saw the same thing and replaced him.
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By Kanka October 3, 2007 - 10:57 am
Wasn’t Price very inconsistent in practice his first three years at ND? And wasn’t that the main reason why he never became the punter until last year?
We’ve seen how well he can do, so my guess is that this is a mental thing. I say that as a second baseman who often has the yips when throwing to first.
Great site, everyone. I really need to come here more often.
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By subwaydomer26 October 3, 2007 - 3:12 pm
It’s a shame about Price. We really needed a big year out of him. Does D.J. have any eligibility left?
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By Pickel October 5, 2007 - 12:35 pm
I think this as well as as the other Kickoff results demonstrate the need for a special teams coach. If that doesn’t convince CW, then nothing will.
However, while special teams is a place where you CAN coach mediocre talent into something special, it’s also a place that you spend limited time on IF you have top talent and still get above average results. I think that this is how CW sees it and will therefore deal with it.
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