Just calculated some astonishing kicking numbers: MSU vs OM

[ShotgunDawg]

So.... I had an observation yesterday that I wanted to figure out the validity of. Why does it seem like MSU always misses field goals and Ole Miss always makes them?

The answer is: It's true, that's exactly what happens.

To answer this, I went through the last 10 years of statistics for both schools, and here is what I found:

From 2009-present (Mullen years) MSU kickers have been 62 of 95 on field goals for a whopping 65.26% success rate
From 2004-2008(Croom era) MSU kickers were 36-60 for a whopping 60% success rate (Croom's offenses really sucked)

Here are Ole Miss' kickers stats from that same era:

2009-present Ole Miss Kickers are 70-92 for a 76.02% success rate
2004-2008 Ole Miss kickers were 72-102 for a 70.50% success rate

For the entire period OM holds a 73.20% to 63.23% edge over MSU in field goal success rate.

Can anyone explain this?

A 10% success rate difference over the course of 10 years in ridiculous and embarrassing.

Why have they had so much better kickers than us?

How hard is it to recruit a good kicker, most are walk-ons for goodness sakes?

Anyway, I was curious and the numbers were worse than I thought, because I thought the further I went back, the more they would even out, but they didn't and I haven't the slightest clue why.

[Jdawg]

A guy I work with told me Ole Miss has the #1 kicker committed for next year.

[geotop]

Wasn't their campus voted #1 most beautiful in the country ???

They probably paid $1,000,000 to get that ranking!

[ShotgunDawg]

A guy I work with told me Ole Miss has the #1 kicker committed for next year.

Yea, not sure he could be much better than what they've had over the last 10 years. Just not sure why we can't get quality accurate kickers. There are probably a numerous amount of them at smaller schools that would've loved to play for us.

[Political Hack]

I dont know if they still do, but high school kickers in MS used to be able to kick FGs off a flat tee instead of the ground. Juco kickers went off the ground. that has an impact some. I'm a firm proponent of offering a Juco FG kickers.

[ShotgunDawg]

I dont know if they still do, but high school kickers in MS used to be able to kick FGs off a flat tee instead of the ground. Juco kickers went off the ground. that has an impact some. I'm a firm proponent of offering a Juco FG kickers.

Interesting point Hack. Might not be a bad idea, assuming there are any good kickers in JUCO ball.

I just don't get why Ole Miss has been so much more successful with kickers than us. These guys aren't highly recruited for the most part and it seems to be a crap shoot as to whether or not they have the mental makeup to do it in front of 80,000 people.

[Todd4State]

Interesting point Hack. Might not be a bad idea, assuming there are any good kickers in JUCO ball.

I just don't get why Ole Miss has been so much more successful with kickers than us. These guys aren't highly recruited for the most part and it seems to be a crap shoot as to whether or not they have the mental makeup to do it in front of 80,000 people.

All they have to do is get some yuppie kid that is a die hard Ole Miss fan that plays soccer and wants to be on the team.

For some God unknown reason our coaches recruit some kid that they think is thunder leg and give them a scholarship and they feel obligated to put them out there.

I say and have always said- make them walk-on and compete. Whomever can do the job plays and gets the scholarship.

[Dawg61]

Their shitty turf actually improves kicking

[CooterDavenport]

The turf really might have something to do with it. I don't have numbers to back me up, but a lot of kickers think turf offers more consistency.

http://kickology.blogspot.com/2012/10/grass-or-turf.html

http://chrissailerkickingblog.co/pros-cons-kicking-turf-vs-grass/

I'm sure there's more to it than that, but the turf vs grass difference isn't nothing.

[Political Hack]

Todd hit on something too. we typically offer big legs instead of accurate FG kickers.

[FlabLoser]

I always felt there were ex FG kickers already on campus that were better than Adam Carlson and Devon Bell.

[BrunswickDawg]

I think there are two remedies 1) We have to get a real special teams coach so there is focus and real knowledge on that part of the game; 2) Scout kicking hotbeds (wherever they are) for accurate strong legs and give a scholarship. The high school I went to has produced over a half dozen clutch kickers for GA, GA Tech, & Ole Miss over the years. Two of those were for National Championship teams. We have had a kicking coach on staff since the early 70s at that school and it pays off big time every year and produces kids ready to kick. Week before last our kicker hit a 49 yard game winner as the clock expired that would have been good from 65. Beat a top 5 team.

[DownwardDawg]

Our special teams coach sucks. He sucked during the Croom years too.

[geotop]

special teams play is always indicative of how solid the rest of the program is going. if the coaches have their hands
full with issues on offense and defense, then special teams sorta gets minimized, but special teams failures can
just make it all the more difficult on the field.