Wolverine Devotee

September 19th, 2014 at 10:04 PM ^

Hayden Epstein is nervously sweating. His record could be in danger. 

He set the program record for longest field goal at 57 yards on 11/3/2001.

 

 

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UMfan21

September 19th, 2014 at 10:04 PM ^

Was that off a tee? I couldn't tell. I seem to remember years ago (Garret Rivas?) that high schools let them use tees on FG and that really helps the kickers.

Impressive either way, but he probably won't be hitting 58 yarders in college right?

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MJ14

September 20th, 2014 at 10:15 AM ^

Not being a jerk here, but I kicked in high school. That was definitely not on a tee. You can see the holder put the ball right on the ground. Also you would see the holder basically manuevering the ball more, for lack of a better phrase, to get to ball positioned on the tee. That was 58 yards from the ground, just like a college kick.I don't know how much leg Andrew has, but that was a legit field goal. Now the guy suggesting he could break the NFL record is ridiculous, because he barely had the leg to hit a 58 yarder. 5 more yards is a lot of leg and there is a reason that it is a record. Obviously, I am just basing that on one video, but it seems the guy who commented is as well. It looks like for now, again based on one video, Andrew's range is basically right at 58 yards. 

He's most likely solid from 50 in and will theoretically get better. 

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Elmer

September 19th, 2014 at 10:29 PM ^

I think he said he was kicking w/o a tee to get ready for college, just like the previous poster said.  It looks like that kick was off the turf.

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ShruteBeetFarms

September 19th, 2014 at 11:47 PM ^

if you're crushing a team and have to resort to kicking a country mile field goal on first down?

It just seems strange.

Also, once this news reaches Fred Jackson it will be a 75 yarder.

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Texagander

September 20th, 2014 at 6:49 AM ^

But he's only two stars! He can't be that good.

With how important kickers are, it'd be great if they'd revise the star rankings for them. At least to be consistent with other positions.


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MJ14

September 20th, 2014 at 10:19 AM ^

I played soccer and kicked field goals in high school. Surprisingly, a lot of soccer players can hit 50-55 yard field goals. The problem is consistency. But it's more common than one would believe for kickers and soccer players with a good leg to be able to hit from that far. Again it's consistency and being able to hit the field goal while you're getting rushed at. That's what seperates a lot of guys. 

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Space Coyote

September 20th, 2014 at 11:04 AM ^

I've seen a lot of soccer players switch to kicking in my time. Some can do it, some can't. If you give them the fake holder and let them set it up and kick it, sure, most of them are fine and a lot can hit it from some distance. But reality isn't like a free kick. There is something psychological about knowing you need to get the ball up off the ground to avoid the block, you need to kick it on time (which means you're moving before the ball is placed), you have people running at you, etc.

That's why it's not just a bunch of soccer players taking over as kickers across college football. They have the leg, that's not the issue at all. It's just psychologically different.

From what I can see, David did a pretty good job of getting the ball up off the ground here, so it wasn't a low line drive, which is nice to see. I'm not sure how I feel about slaughtering a team this bad and then lining up for a 58 yard FG. IMO, that seems like kind of rubbing it in. I'm all for continuing your game plan and putting up points on the board, but I'd prefer to see it within the natural flow of the game rather than "this is a joke team so let's just kick it from 58."

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