BOL Round Table

I'm not reading this entire thread. But when Florida was getting the ball at the 40 yd line every kickoff, I'm pretty sure we would have kicked the ball into the endzone for touchback if we could. We can't, we still won. I'm not sure why people spin this. No matter how short of a return the returners have had this season, they still bring it out past the 20, where it would be if a touchback occurred. If we could, we would blast it into the stands.

Good lord no one is saying we wouldnt kick it out of the back of the endzone if CadE could. Peope are saying he cant do that so instead of kicking a line drive 2 yards deep in the endzone we are making him kick a high ball to the 5-15. This isnt hard to understand...it aint rocket science. Well maybe it is to some of you. Trajectory is involved. Nevermind...this is above some of your heads lol. SMH

Oh yeah...demps nearly killed us...glad we made it thru that 1st quarter...

Agreed

You're right SweetHome, but it's obvious our kicking game is below average. OP can say whatever he/she wants, but Cade Foster is hurting us. Arkansas started close to the 40-yard line several times as did Florida. Our defense is just so good they wipeout the poor kickoffs. I am absolutely baffled that we can't find a kid that can routinely kick it deep into the endzone or out of it completely. That was supposedly why we spent a scholarship on Foster, because of his strong leg. Not only that, our punter is very slow to get the punts off and he has struggled as well.

None of this may matter since we are dominant in so many areas, but don't try to give us some "it's strategy" bs. No it's not. It's an area that needs obvious improvement and every breakdown of our team by an objective source will tell you that. Maze is the only thing that keeps us having a good name in special teams this year. And Shelley is very consistent on short FGs.

That's basically the summation of this entire thread... except for #2... I think it's consensus that IF he had the leg to put it deep in the endzone consistently, then that's what we'd be doing.

Again, I'm not sure where people have seen anyone suggest that Foster is capable of putting it deep into the endzone. The entire premise behind this thread is that since he CAN'T kick it deep into the endzone or out of the endzone, we have to prepare and strategize accordingly.

Obviously if he could kick it deep enough to force a touchback, that's what we'd be doing.

Well, here's a quote from the Executive Sports Editor of the Tuscaloosa News. He was asked why no media member had asked the question, and he gave a rather lengthy response. This was the quote I was looking for though:

"Alabama is obviously directional kicking -- Saban has addressed this before. He wants hang time and likes to kick it away from the returners instead of right to them, because it makes it harder for the opponent to set up blocks on returns. Hang time is essential to avoid what Maze did to Florida -- a line-drive kick into the end zone that got returned 70 yards in game-changing fashion because the coverage unit didn't have time to fill the lanes.

I hope that helps someone understand the media end of why it hasn't been asked, and why UA kicks the ball higher and shorter instead of lower and longer, and why the kicks are aimed to one corner of the field or other."

I'm sure he's just an idiot, though. He just speaks to Coach Saban on an almost daily basis. I'm sure there's nothing to it. It'd be pure stupidity to intentionally kick the ball to the 10 yard line. Ya know... for those kickoff coverage angles.

BOOM.