Kickers boot away preseason fears
Michigan State’s kickers have been a stress for fans ever since last season’s 5 for 16 performance. Newcomer Brett Swenson passed the season’s first test by hitting field goals from 35 and 23 yards. He did barely miss from 51 yards but showed he has the distance from that range.
Todd Schulz of the Lansing State Journal reports that team captain Drew Stanton had some advice for the freshman kicker.
Before fall camp, Stanton pulled Swenson aside and offered this advice: “We’re not asking you to make 60-yard field goals. All you have to do is be consistent and get it through the uprights.”
Before Saturday’s first field goal, Stanton whispered in the new guy’s ear again.
“I said, ‘Just do what you do,’ ” Stanton said. “He went up there and kicked it right through the uprights. You can’t ask much more than that.”
Steve Grinczel of MLive.com writes that coach John L. Smith’s decision to go for it on 4th and 1 had nothing to do with a lack of confidence in his kicker.
“We have confidence in (our kicking game),” Smith said. “Quite a bit.”
While holding a tenuous 24-17 lead with 5:40 remaining in the game, Smith made a controversial decision to go for it on fourth-and-1 at the Idaho 25-yard line instead of giving Swenson a chance to salt the game away.
“It wasn’t a matter of not having confidence in the kicking game,” Smith said. “That wasn’t a part of that decision.”
Also kicking very well on Saturday was punter Brandon Fields. Fields had three punts for an average of 55.7 yards including a 63-yarder. Fields seemed pleased with his performance according to the Lansing State Journal.
“I was hitting the ball real well,” Fields said. “The last one got away from me a little bit but other than that I had a pretty good day.”
Despite a disappointing 2005, Fields entered this season with a career average of 45.6-yards per punt, which ranked first in MSU and Big Ten history.
Last year, he shanked punts and out-kicked his coverage.
But coach John L. Smith made scheme adjustments to allow Fields to simply kick the ball. Judging from Saturday, they’ve paid off.