What's with Hagerup?
Will Hagerup's first punt went for 26 yards, second for 24. He finished the season with a paltry 36 yard average, down a full seven yards from last year.
After that Matt Wile came in and averaged 44 yards in 3 punts. His season average (accumulated during Hagerup's four-game suspension plus this game) was 41 yards per punt. Our emergency backup punter was better than our returning starter.
So what's wrong with Hagerup? Mechanics? Injury? Or has something gotten into his head?
January 4th, 2012 at 10:53 AM ^
Thanks for posting on this. It's the first mention I've heard thus far. I've got a feeling he has been permanently displaced by Wile.
January 4th, 2012 at 11:11 AM ^
January 4th, 2012 at 1:55 PM ^
What does Brendan Gibbons have to do with punting?
January 4th, 2012 at 2:04 PM ^
I suspect he's interested in the brunette in A2Hawk's avatar (Lucy Pinder, no?).
January 4th, 2012 at 10:53 AM ^
I don't know the answer to your question.
However, that first punt set the tone for the rest of an awful 1st quarter.
That was one of the worst 5 plays of the entire game. Obviously 3rd and 20 is no. 1.
January 4th, 2012 at 11:08 AM ^
When you win, there is no "worst play." Those are all for the other team.
January 4th, 2012 at 10:54 AM ^
He was suffering withdrawl
January 4th, 2012 at 11:45 AM ^
No need for this type of speculation, we're talking about kids here and as far as I can tell his suspension wasn't drug related.
January 4th, 2012 at 10:54 AM ^
January 4th, 2012 at 10:55 AM ^
I have no idea, but it does seem like his head isn't totally into football, or at least his mechanics are significantly off.
January 4th, 2012 at 11:14 AM ^
he has the physical attributes to be an NFL punter. he has to decide if he wants to be one.
January 4th, 2012 at 12:26 PM ^
This is not a field goal where you see this with kickers. I can't remember a punter losing mojo so I wonder if this is just a decision or attitude to adjust. Maybe. Seems like something else is wrong.
January 4th, 2012 at 10:55 AM ^
He seemed like a really good punter coming into this year - frustrating to see the struggles this year. As Gibbons proved, there is a significant mental aspect to the kicking game, so there is hope that he can be in the same stratosphere as Zoltan, but man, those punts were frustrating last night.
January 4th, 2012 at 10:58 AM ^
I think he is in the process of giving his scholarship back. Its a slow process, but I bet its almost complete. If he can get his head screwed back on straight, he should do fine at his next stop.
pure iresponsible speculation on my part. But how many punters do you need. and we are bringing in another.
January 4th, 2012 at 11:56 AM ^
Va Tech was using their 3rd string kicker....things happen. If that game proved anything last night, it's that special teams are important.
January 4th, 2012 at 10:59 AM ^
Perhaps he was thinking about blonds instead of brunettes.
January 4th, 2012 at 11:01 AM ^
He's a true sophomore with two suspensions in his past and no playing time in his future.
Hope he gets his business figured out and at least gets a good education out of his time at Michigan.
January 4th, 2012 at 11:02 AM ^
Hagerup has seemed mentally out-to-lunch all year. I don't know what got him suspended for the first four games, but whatever it was sure seemed to carry over once he returned. I hope he gets things together during the offseason.
Meanwhile, it sure is nice to have Wile as a quality second option at both punter and placekicker. Imagine -- depth at both kicking positions!
January 4th, 2012 at 11:12 AM ^
I'll post it:
This never gets old for some reason.
January 4th, 2012 at 11:13 AM ^
I noticed he was getting pretty decent hang time on his punts....they just didn't go that far. It's a shame. I hope he gets it together next year.
January 4th, 2012 at 11:38 AM ^
Hagerup clearly has the better punting motion overall. In practice he's the second coming of Zoltan. Kicks it deep and with a low of hang time so the coverage can run down there. In the game he gets the hang time but not the distance.
Wile can send the ball the distance, but he does not always get the air under it to let the coverage team get down there. Wile, who to be fair is a true freshman, is more likely to boot off a line drive.
Overall though I like where we are. Wile is currently servicable. If either Wile learns to get air under it or Hagerup fixes his gametime mechanics we'll likely get Zoltan II.
January 4th, 2012 at 11:13 AM ^
I think he's just forcing it in the game. The three times I've watched him during warm-ups and between halfs, he's booming them with no effort. I think he gets excited and swings through harder than he practices and that causes the straight up kicks and shank issues he's having.
January 4th, 2012 at 11:25 AM ^
Bottomline is he has been AWFUL all season. Wile should keep that job. How many times this year could we have pinned the other team deep in their zone & they end up on the 20-35 yard line instead because of a 20-30 yard punt.
I don't know what's up with this kid, but he needs to get his head on straight from the sounds of things.
January 4th, 2012 at 11:47 AM ^
How about we let the offseason play out before declaring Wile the punter on Team 133. Remember, Gibbons made 1 field goal in 2010 and was pretty darn clutch for us this year.
January 4th, 2012 at 11:26 AM ^
Hagerup was suspended for the first 4 games, that makes me think that he doesn't have his head in the game and isn't preparing like he should.
I'm not going to mention the rumors, but I lived in Ann Arbor for 14 years so I know some of the "influences" it has on college students. See Tate Forcier.
With that said, the kid has a LEG. I just hope he gets it together, whatever it is...he needs to get himself "right" because he can make a living kicking a football if he can pull it together.
If not, Wile is the TRUTH. He does a great job and I'd be just fine if he punted and handled kickoffs. Now that Gibbons is at least serviceable, our kicking situation is suddenly not "that bad."
January 4th, 2012 at 11:41 AM ^
Hagerup needs to put down the pipe and get his head in the damn game. Talented kid but he's been WAY more of a liability than an asset. Let's hope he gets his tail in gear for next year. Otherwise, HELLO Wile.
January 4th, 2012 at 12:36 PM ^
what does smoking weed have to do with not punting that well?
January 4th, 2012 at 12:05 PM ^
About 20 people came out from San Diego. They were so proud of him. Clearly a lot of love for UM. He's going to be a great addition in the years to come.
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<br>Hope we can stop with the speculation about Hagerup. A public forum is not the place for this. He was getting TONS of height to his kicks last night, just not the distance. VT is known for ability to block kicks. Think he might have wanted to get that extra height and to get the kicks off quickly.
January 4th, 2012 at 2:06 PM ^
I'm not going to speculate on the off the field stuff, because you're right. However, I will comment on the two kicks he had last night. Both were horrible by his own standards. One could've easily put VT inside the 15. The other one was a dud that didn't get hangtime or length.
He hasn't punted well all season. As to why? I don't know, but compared to last year...judging him ON the field. He's been less than impressive.
January 4th, 2012 at 12:42 PM ^
Hoke is a genius. He absolutely knew Wile was a tad slower getting his punts off than Hagerup, thus allowing the play of the game (Wile drawing the roughing call) to occur. He's pure genius. And he poops gold.
January 4th, 2012 at 1:44 PM ^
which I doubt because he's been punting poorly all season, it's probably something mental. He appears to have the physique and technique to be successful as we saw last year. So, there must be some other reason. Hopefully whatever it is, he can work through it over the off-season and come back as Zoltan II next season.