Oregon State kicker Justin Kahut missed his third field goal in six tries this season Saturday against Cal.
It was a wet day, but he still should have made the 37-yarder in the middle of the field. Coach Mike Riley reviewed the video and has the same opinion. His other two misses were from 47 and 25 yards, well within his range.
However, Riley still has faith in the senior. Kahut has hit all his extra points the last two games and his kickoffs have been on.
“He had a great day kicking off,” Riley said. “He missed a kick he shouldn’t miss. Besides that kick, he had a great day. Kickoff direction and hang time were good to allow us to cover. He had a lot of good parts.”
So, the Beavers hope Kahut can work through his inconsistencies soon, before he’s needed to win a game in the clutch.
Punting changes
P Johnny Hekker debuted his rugby punt with some success. He hit a 33-yard kick, running to his right and hitting it on the moved.
“It’s something we’ve talking about for a while,” Riley said. “We’ve been practicing that for three weeks. We wanted it in what we do. He just has to be more consistent.”
Hekker has had a quiet season. There have been many good punts mixed in with some shanks. His numbers haven’t been great as he averages 40.8 yards on 37 punts and ranks seventh in the Pacific-10 Conference.
The positive numbers are 15 punts downed inside the 20-yard line, five fair caught and eight have been longer than 50 yards.
“He’s a very talented guy who will keep working hard for consistency,” Riley said. “He has a lot of great stuff in him, in a lot of ways.”
Line depth
When OG Grant Johnson (stinger) left the Cal game during halftime, Ryan Pohl took his place. The offense came out and scored a TD on the opening drive.
Then more backups started to come in the game, particularly on the offensive line. The Beavers feel good about the depth in those positions.
“We’ve developed more depth,” Riley said. “We are not a finished product there. The last couple years there, however, we have more guys and more experienced guys we expect to go in there and do a job, than we have had in the past.”
Nice catch
Check out the below video. It’s of WR Jordan Bishop making his spectacular catch against Cal on Saturday. He shows off his high jumping leaps on the play. It’s also where he bruised his shoulder.
17 comments
ean says:
May 18, 2012
That sure was a nice catch by Bishop. Hopefully we can build some depth on the O-line, hopefully the Andrews is ready for next year and there is some more competition at OG. Also it would be nice if Phillip and Remmers got a little nastier. I mean they have been solid but I would think a big time recruit like Phillip would be dominant, that left side of the line needs to open things up for Quizz. Not much we can do about Kahut at this point. Hopefully the next 2 games aren't close enough to need a kicker and we will need 7's not 3's in the last 3 games anyway.
BeaverDon says:
May 18, 2012
Are Kahut and Hekker on scholarship? Was either recruited by Riley?
osbeavs says:
May 18, 2012
Yes, and both are recruited by his staff. I believe Hekker came in as a preferred walk-on. Not sure about Kahut.
BeaverDon says:
May 18, 2012
And for the followup……..why?
maffub says:
May 18, 2012
Because, BeaverDon, D-1 kicker & punters do not grow on trees!!!
Johnny Hekker was an all-state QUARTERBACK who happened to have a strong leg. He was very raw but there is obvious talent. He hasn't progressed as rapidly as I'd hoped, but there is something nice about having an ALL-STATE quarterback as your punter… would you not agree?
Who was the last scholarship placekicker to come in for the Beavers… no walk-on? You remember a guy named Ryan Cesca? It's been ten years. It's the way we always do it at OSU (under Riley) and guess what, BD? For the most part it's worked out pretty damn well.
If you've got something positive to offer JK (or the Beavers in general) go down to the practice field and be a volunteer coach.. be supportive. Otherwise keep doin' what you're doin'… throwing out digs at the kids while shrouded in internet anonymity. It's embarrassing… fans who boo college kids.
Go Beavs – Keep gettin' better! Hope your fans follow suit.
JackBeav says:
May 18, 2012
I generally yawn at the self-righteous ditribes provided by some, but this back and forth is about a kicker with the yips.
If you're down on him, then you're standing in a long line which includes teammates, coaches and mostly himself. His reality is more harsh than a comment on a blog.
If you think your self-righteous diatribes ward off some evil joo-joos or give other whackos a sense of warm fuzziness, then so be it. But most of us live in a world where not everyone gets a trophy for showing up for some game where they don't keep score because *sniff* it hurts to lose.
In the end we're still just talking about a kicker with the yips.
BeaverDon says:
May 18, 2012
You will have to point out "something nice" about an ALL-STATE quarterback being our Punter. The guy is suppose to be a punter, I don't care what he did in HIGH SCHOOL he is in college now. When I'm in Reser and the announcer says " Johnny Hekker on in Punt formation" I cringe, and no matter what his teammates or coachs say I'll bet they do the same. How long would you put up with a QB missing passes? As long as we have put up with Kahut? If they were getting better and more consistant fine but they are not.
tommiet says:
May 18, 2012
I remember Cesca. Wide right, UW? 11-1 instead of 12-0. Same guy maffub?
maffub says:
May 18, 2012
I can't fathom how anyone would think Cesca making that kick translates to an automatic win. Lest you remember, Tommie… a made kick begets a tie game… not a Beaver win. Truth is, it was a difficult kick… makeable for sure… but the play-calling and time management leading up to the kick was awful & didn't exactly put Cesca in the best position.
That's not what I take issue with, however…
Do you HONESTLY think OSU would have been 12-0 if not for Ryan Cesca's wide right? Do you think football seasons play out that way?
Face it: OSU should have lost at UCLA in 2000. Do you know how many breaks the team had to get in order to secure that win? Do you think the team would have played with the same urgency during the rest of the season? Would they have played with the same chip on their shoulder & escaped with wins at Cal & over Oregon? And would they have trounced their quality opponent in the bowl game, as opposed to a Notre Dame squad with zero business belonging in the BCS?
Ryan Cesca squarely deserves (and accepted) responsibility for the USC debacle in 2001, but to call HIM the reason OSU didn't win an NC in 2000 is flat-out shallow & stupid.
**Note to moderating staff: I am not calling TommitT shallow & stupid. He's a good person. Occasionally, however, good people say dumb things
One follow up: You actually proved my point about scholarships for D-1 freshman kickers. If you're anti-Cesca then you should be firmly in the corner that believes OSU has had better success developing walk-ons than we have with 4 year scholarship kickers.
Two follow up: Wasn't Kyle Loomis a "scholarshipped" punter? How did that work out for us? Not well, methnks.
tim33 says:
May 18, 2012
Why is Hekker working on a rugby style punt? Is this for block avoidance or is it a wrinkle that could set-up some fakes in the future?
ckirkpatrick says:
May 18, 2012
Just to have it. And if he punts in a strong headwind, it will help get the ball down field bouncing.
tim33 says:
May 18, 2012
Has OSU thought about having a back-up QB as a holder for place kicks? I heard someone mention that Hekker was doing this and is new (Cavanaugh did it in the past). UO uses Costa which is a weapon because of the possibility for a fake.
ckirkpatrick says:
May 18, 2012
Hekker has the second-best arm on the team. He's a former QB. So there's potential for fakes.
The holder is picked by the kicker. OSU wants the kicker to be comfortable first. Hekker worked with Kahut at practice all the time, so he became holder. Previously, Kavanaugh worked with him a lot.
Before that, walk-on QB Colt Charles did it. He was just hanging round and helped Serna. That's just how they are picked.
oneoldbeav says:
May 18, 2012
Not only potential, Hekker already has been successful on one fake (TCU, if memory serves).
wcjr says:
May 18, 2012
maffub, your point concerning Loomis is not valid. He was a good punter, however nobody could forsee him just up and leaving after one season.
maffub says:
May 18, 2012
I posted a comment here Cliff, but it never appeared… didn't think it was inappropriate at all. Do you know anything about it?
Thanks!
ckirkpatrick says:
May 18, 2012
I had to approve it for some reason. It's up now.