Oregon State kicker Justin Kahut spent much of spring practice tinkering with his form. There have been some rough spots, and breaking in a new holder didn’t help.
My Friday story in the GT addresses the new holder in P Johnny Hekker. The stories also touches on him kicking off, and punting of course.
Kahut, a senior, felt the pressure of Hekker working on kickoffs, so he tried to adjust his motion to get more power. When it didn’t work, he went back to what worked.
“I’m dealing with some technique issues,” Kahut said. “I spent the first four or five weeks of the offseason trying to change my angle I was coming at the ball. Then I decided to scrap it. I’m having issues changing back to where I was. I didn’t feel like I wasn’t getting through the ball. I realized I could still get through the ball with more power with my old way.”
Kahut had lingering injuries that hurt his performance over the years. However, he’s healthy at the moment.
Kickers have plenty of time to take in practice, so he watches all the special teams units. He’s confident that they can be game-changers for the Beavers.
“I’m looking forward to this last year,” Kahut said. “I think this team will be the best we’ve had. I’m excited to see what special teams can do. Marcus (Perry) is snapping great and Johnny is doing a good job. I just have to make the kicks.”
Kahut will leave his name sprinkled all over OSU’s record books with points, field goals and extra points. However, those numbers don’t drive him.
It’s 90. That’s the percentage of kicks he wants to make – field goals and extra points. He was at 82 percent last season.
“That’s a lofty goal,” Kahut said. “When I look back at last year there are kicks I shouldn’t have missed that would have put me over that goal. It’s a high goal, but if I fall a little short it’s still a good year.”
8 comments
ObjCritic says:
Apr 30, 2010
Cliff – notice any different 4 or 5(!) receiver sets in development and use this spring? Seems with all the talent at WR (Rodgers, Wheaton, Bishop, Nichols, Munoz, Ghwacham, etc. – they could even put Quizz and Halahuni out there in slots. ) Riley and Langsdorf would be crazy not to exploit that strength and put in some new sets.
ean says:
Apr 30, 2010
Need the line to offer up some decent protection before you start sending out 5 wides… lol.
ObjCritic says:
Apr 30, 2010
Well, yeah, there is that fundamental issue of lining up on the line of scrimmage appropriately (7 or more on the LOS at the snap) I don't expect them to all be "wide"…but the gist of my question is are there any new groupings of receivers that may result in some different looks than we've seen recently.
beavfan05 says:
Apr 30, 2010
90%??? Kahut better be 100% on PATs. His misses drive me nuts.
Basically his only misses this year should be from 40+. He should be able to make the rest.
ckirkpatrick says:
Apr 30, 2010
One of the things the media doesn't do with open practices is give away how teams line up and where people specifically lineup.
However, the Beavers have already used empty backfield plays last year.
BeaverDon says:
May 1, 2010
beavfan05 hits the nail on the head. We should see 99% of the PATs and FGs under 40 should be gimme's. The only question should be on the 40+ FGs.
angrybeaver says:
May 1, 2010
Kickoffs into the endzone, please.
http://angrybeavers.wordpress.com
WebTraveler says:
May 2, 2010
Going back to that Hekker article frm the other day, there is the comment on Hekker of the "disastrous Las Vegas Bowl." I disagree with that. No one could have punted into that wind with normal punting. At best it needed to be a running rugby type kick, which is different from Hekker's style.
The entire fault with that performance has to do with Special Teams coach Bruce Read, who as an experienced coach, should have recognized this and addressed it. But he didn't. Neither did Riley. There is no way a 19 year old college football player could have worked that out. Read was not on the ball, and Riley simply looked like he didn't want to be there in Las Vegas and frankly, his overall play calling reflected his desire to be next to a warm fire, rather than in that windy cold. The loss in Las Vegas was 90% the coaching staff's fault for not being prepared. Makes me angry that Hekker is criticized for the punts when Bruce Read made no effort whatsoever to design a punting plan to accomodate that weather. That's on Read and Riley, in my opinion. I usually have respect for Riley, but the fact he, Riley and his staff caused that embarassment.