September 24th, 2011 at 7:57 PM ^
He looked good on both kick-offs and punts. I think he deserves a shot at FGs.
September 24th, 2011 at 8:00 PM ^
while he's being spun around prior to kicking.
At least there would be a non-zero chance of pinning the FG on the uprights.
September 24th, 2011 at 11:36 PM ^
Asking the same player to handle both punts and field goals is dicey. They involve very different leg motions. You want your kicker's mechanics to be as automatic as possible, but that's hard if he also has to punt. That's why they usually are handled by two different players.
September 25th, 2011 at 2:49 AM ^
Hayden Epstein thinks otherwise
September 24th, 2011 at 7:58 PM ^
Was imprssed with him today. The wind helped out as well but a great effort by Wile.
September 24th, 2011 at 8:00 PM ^
He needs to start kicking FG's...the one today by Gibbons wasnt even close and it should be a very very make-able FG.
September 24th, 2011 at 8:02 PM ^
I'll give him a pass, it was from 40.
September 24th, 2011 at 8:06 PM ^
It's sad that we're willing to give a pass from only 40.
September 24th, 2011 at 8:06 PM ^
but given his track record I would give him a shorter leash than most. Don't replace him yet, but if he goes 1-3 or even 2-4 in the next couple games it would probably be time to see what Wile can do. Gibbons hasn't given anyone a reason to cut him slack just yet.
September 24th, 2011 at 8:10 PM ^
I'm just not ready to butcher the kid yet. He's only had two attempts.
September 24th, 2011 at 8:26 PM ^
Actually he's had 7, missed 5, career long 24 yards. Just sayin'.
September 24th, 2011 at 9:01 PM ^
i would give him a shot before gibbons any day. at least he kicks it high. and i think he is only a soph too.
September 24th, 2011 at 8:10 PM ^
Didn't Hoke say Wile would be taking the long field goals? I guess when Brady was getting to know the team no one told him that Gibbons has changed the meaning of "long" in Ann Arbor...
25 yards = long
40 yards = country mile
September 24th, 2011 at 8:57 PM ^
It was a 40 yarder, not from the 40, that's no extra point, but it's not a particularly difficult FG either.
September 24th, 2011 at 8:06 PM ^
September 24th, 2011 at 8:37 PM ^
He had plenty of leg, just no draw - it went straight left - like he didn't follow through. Might still be a little nervous. Hopefully they get him some more opportunities. Haven't been many because we've been converting a lot of TDs.
September 24th, 2011 at 9:26 PM ^
September 25th, 2011 at 1:25 AM ^
a couple other stadiums Saturday, they might have called it good.
September 24th, 2011 at 8:02 PM ^
Terrance Robinson made some nice plays covering kicks and punts too.
September 24th, 2011 at 8:06 PM ^
I was glad to see Terrance do well. Hopefully he will become a special teams ace.
The coverage overall has continued to improve.
September 24th, 2011 at 8:06 PM ^
First time I noticed him. If memory serves, he was in on at least one coverage tackle.
September 24th, 2011 at 8:07 PM ^
The hold was 20 degrees tilted to the side. Is that a problem?
September 24th, 2011 at 9:02 PM ^
September 24th, 2011 at 8:11 PM ^
I would like to see him kicking field goals too. I think there's some excellent potential here. Special teams in general looked pretty good overall today.
September 24th, 2011 at 8:14 PM ^
Will be interesting to see if Wile has surpassed Hagerup when he's back. Seems to me Hagerup is better at punting, but Wiles KOs today were solid.
September 24th, 2011 at 8:18 PM ^
IIRC, it is hard to be a punter and kick FGs. Something about mechanics - like working on your golf swing and then playing softball. That's why there is a punter and a kicker, but they are rarely the same person. Anyone have any special teams knowledge on this?
I thought Wile was going to be moved to full kicking duties (KOs and FGs) after Hagerup comes back from his time in Bolivian (i.e. from now on). I know that I will be fine if that is the last field goal I get to see Gibbons miss. i don't want to be hard on the kid, but enough already.
September 24th, 2011 at 10:56 PM ^
Mike Gillette and Hayden Epstien both kick FG and Punting duties at UM
September 24th, 2011 at 11:39 PM ^
Both were very inconsistent, too. Epstein in particular had phenomenal leg strength but his accuracy was all over the place. If he could have just focused on placekicking, he may have been a lot better.
September 25th, 2011 at 12:02 PM ^
Didn't Epstein only punt on year? I think it was offered as an explanation for some of his misses.
September 24th, 2011 at 8:49 PM ^
Well with Wile now being able to concentrate on PK and kickoffs with Hagerup coming back I think he makes the place kicking competition much closer.
September 24th, 2011 at 8:52 PM ^
chance at field goals.
September 24th, 2011 at 10:24 PM ^
for kickoffs and filling in very nicely for Hagerup. I truly thought we would lose one of these first four games due to special teams, but Wile has done his part to make sure that didn't happen. I can only remember one punt that poor.