Quinn Nordin back from injury
I was perusing Twitter this morning and just saw the Rivals guys posted a (free) article about the kicking competition this week. Most importantly the bit at the end:
https://michigan.rivals.com/news/michigan-football-harbaugh-says-kickin…
“We’ve been working extremely hard at it. ... Unfortunately, we missed three kicks in the ball game last week. We have confidence in our guys, yet we want to see that competition in practice. I feel if we make them in practice, we’ll be able to make them in a game. Guys are battling this week.”
And doing well, including freshman Quinn Nordin. Nordin had been working through an injury, but he returned to the competition this week.
“Quinn made both his kicks yesterday, in fact, and had a really good day yesterday. Kenny Allen made all his kicks; Ryan Tice made all his kicks and Quinn made all his kicks," Harbaugh said. "It will rage on again today.”
October 6th, 2016 at 9:24 AM ^
We can haz field goals?
October 6th, 2016 at 10:08 AM ^
October 6th, 2016 at 11:36 AM ^
This guy is coming off injury from hurting himself when Falco pulled the ball out before his last kick plus he has a bad gambling problem.
October 6th, 2016 at 11:49 AM ^
years ago. I'm sure he has recovered!
October 6th, 2016 at 11:41 AM ^
oh lay oh lay oh layyyyyy.
He's wirey.
A favorite movie of mine.
October 6th, 2016 at 9:25 AM ^
October 6th, 2016 at 9:25 AM ^
This might be the case, given it says he only kicked two field goals.
October 6th, 2016 at 9:34 AM ^
If he is still at all injured, I don't see them rushing him back and risking anything. We won't need a FG against Rutgers or Illinois. He has over 3 weeks before we may need him against MSU and even though it would be nice to get him some game reps before then, it's not worth risking injury over by rushing him back.
October 6th, 2016 at 9:38 AM ^
No. If you are going to insert a freshman kicker, I want him to have kicked in a real game before he goes to MSU. If that is his first action it is going to go poorly. If he has kicked during Rutgers or Illinois, go for it. If he hasn't, he ain't kicking vs. MSU.
October 6th, 2016 at 9:48 AM ^
Agreed that it's not the ideal situation to put him in for his first kick against MSU, but I was saying that's the first time you'd need it. It is better than rushing him back and having him reinjure himself and not be available for the end of the season. I would give the kicks to Tice this week, and then Nordin against Illinois, even if you have to take a FG on 2nd or 3rd down just to get the practice in because the opposing D can't stop you.
October 6th, 2016 at 10:45 AM ^
October 6th, 2016 at 10:53 AM ^
Yeah.
October 7th, 2016 at 11:14 AM ^
see us pull a "little giant" on them (as I recall).
October 6th, 2016 at 4:54 PM ^
PUNTS!
October 6th, 2016 at 9:52 AM ^
October 6th, 2016 at 1:02 PM ^
point conversions...special packages for running up the score on sparty and that twisted muffin face coach of theirs.
October 6th, 2016 at 3:32 PM ^
October 6th, 2016 at 12:15 PM ^
Go for 2 after every TD. Go for it on 4th from their side of the field every time.
PROFIT.
Lets just not kick in this game other than kickoffs. Although I bet we'll see a field goal or two just to give the kickers confidence.
October 6th, 2016 at 9:42 AM ^
"all his kicks" can also mean "2 field goals". We don't have any idea how many live fire kicks any of the other kickers had a chance to hit.
October 6th, 2016 at 9:27 AM ^
I vote that when we're up 38-0 that we start kicking once we hit the 25 yard line. Even if it's first down.
October 6th, 2016 at 9:28 AM ^
October 6th, 2016 at 9:32 AM ^
We start your plan about the end of the first quarter this Saturday night?
Works for me.
October 6th, 2016 at 9:33 AM ^
October 6th, 2016 at 9:39 AM ^
But could they cover the... Never mind. Dumb question.
October 6th, 2016 at 9:09 PM ^
I like this plan for several reasons:
1) The obvious - giving our place kicker(s) as much in game experience as possible.
2) Precision practice for the offense. See how well they can have a drive go to an exact point on the field and no farther (by design). Ideally, drive deep in the red zone and then stop short while being apparent that it could have gone all the way if desired.
3) Complete humiliation of RUTGERZ. We demonstrate that the game is in such control that we feel no need to attempt any TDs and that we can do what we please in the game.
Sporting? No. Fun? Maybe...
October 6th, 2016 at 10:21 AM ^
/nopolitics
October 6th, 2016 at 10:34 AM ^
I know I'm repeating myself from another thread, but I have a better (equally absurd but more effective) plan: Every time we score a touchdown against Rutgers, take a penalty or two before kicking the extra point. Let Tice or Quinn practice in a game situation, from medium range, with one point on the line instead of three.
October 6th, 2016 at 11:12 AM ^
Oh, you said "up 38-0."
October 6th, 2016 at 12:17 PM ^
You want to beat them 74-0?
October 6th, 2016 at 8:49 PM ^
Nothing would roil their Jersey mentality more than denying them basic respect. "WTF!!!! These flyover dickweeds keep kicking it on first down for extra practice?! Kill them coach Ash, kill them!!!" (more kicking after no 3d conversions followed by mass stadium exodus)
October 6th, 2016 at 9:27 AM ^
October 6th, 2016 at 9:32 AM ^
October 6th, 2016 at 10:07 AM ^
and his leg may be fatigued. I dont think anyone in the NFL performs all three types of kicks. But to your point KA did have a stong season last year with FG's.
October 6th, 2016 at 10:25 AM ^
nfl vs ncaa is apples to oranges
October 6th, 2016 at 11:14 AM ^
You don't see guys in the NFL doing both because none of the 32 best FG kickers in the world are also among the 32 best punters in the world, and an NFL team has the luxury of having one of each. I don't think it's because it would be too much work.
October 6th, 2016 at 10:54 AM ^
Based on this article, it seems the expert opinion is that the different motions for punting and FGs can create problems.
http://www.espn.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/137228/michigan-kicking-job-u…
Allen primarily focused on FGs last season with O'Neill handling the punting until the Florida game, right? I think Allen's success last season with less duties for the bulk of the year can't be ignored when compared to his handling all of the kicking responsibilities this season.
If we can count on a 45-50 yard plus punting average from Allen, then I say let Nordin or Tice take on the FG duties and lessen the burden on Allen.
October 6th, 2016 at 11:28 AM ^
I don't think the problem is that he is literally forgetting how to kick. Rather, it's a muscle-memory thing: you use one kicking motion for field goals and another for punts, and trying to do both can throw you off and make you overthink it when it needs to be automatic.
October 6th, 2016 at 11:31 AM ^
It's probably hard to have a great baseball swing and a great golf swing at the same time. I imagine punting and place kicking are similar.
October 6th, 2016 at 6:29 PM ^
I believe there are more simularities between a full golf swing and bat swing than not. I never had a problem playing golf during baseball season.
October 6th, 2016 at 9:40 AM ^
Well, he did go 18-22 on FGs last year. I was kind of hoping the opposite: that we could find someone else to punt and let him hopefully regain his form as kicker.
October 6th, 2016 at 11:03 AM ^
Don't forget he was only 3/6 from 40+ last year and is 0/2 from that distance this year. It would be nice to have someone with a little more range when it counts.
October 6th, 2016 at 9:27 AM ^
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October 6th, 2016 at 9:34 AM ^
I don't know, treating a kicker like he has a fragile mind doesn't seem like the way to bring out the best in him. There's going to be pressure kicking in a game situation no matter what. I'd just tell him he sucked last week and if he doesn't get it together he'll probably never get another chance. He'll either rise to the occasion or he won't. He owns his own mojo. No need to coddle the dude.
October 6th, 2016 at 9:45 AM ^
"I'd just tell him he sucked last week and if he doesn't get it together he'll probably never get another chance."
I wouldn't be surprised if the moms say the same thing to you. MGoBlog is a meritocracy after all.
October 6th, 2016 at 11:21 AM ^
I did suck last week. I straightened out my skirt though and got 1% better each day, so now I'm on a roll.
October 6th, 2016 at 9:49 AM ^
That kid's got some bite to his kicks. With him on our team, we'd be able to clamp down on the competition. Time to gator done!
October 6th, 2016 at 9:27 AM ^
It'd be nice if Nordin or Tice could win that kicking job and give Allen a bit of a break.