Kickers Are People Too!

Many people believe that a NFL team or NCAAF team would do just fine without a good kicker. In some cases this may be true, for example Mississippi is only 10/14 (71%), yet they have only lost two games and will most likely still be ranked in the top 10 after this week. However in most cases this is not true, this post will explain how a good kicker can not only transform the outcome of a game, but a whole season.

Some kickers may be good most of the time, but not when it matters. In last nights Florida vs. Florida State game Florida kicker Austin Hardin went 4/6 kicking field goals. Those two missed field goals add up too six points Florida could of had. The final score to that game was 24-19, Florida would have won if those field goals had gone in. Had Florida won that would have been a major upset. Florida very possibly would not be in the top four after a loss and therefore would most likely not make the four team playoff.

Not only can a kicker effect a game but also a season. In this case it is not only a kicker, it is three kickers. Mike Knoll, Alex Howell and Joey Launceford. These 3 combined to go 11/18 (61%) kicking field goals. They also went a pathetic 32/38 (84.2%) on extra points. For crying out loud North Carolina who kicked 50% on field goals were 12% more efficient on extra points than the eagles. Four of the six extra points were missed by Launceford, who made 100% of the field goals he attempted. Each of the other kickers missed one extra point.

Now, how did this terrible kicking lead to a season worse than it could have been? Well that's simple. It all starts back in week 2 vs. Pittsburgh. The final of the game was 30-20 Pitt. BC kicker Alex Howell missed a 46 yard field goal in the first quarter. If that field goal was made the game BC would have been down 7 points with 43 seconds left and only 55 yards for a touchdown. Had they been down only one possession opposed to two they would have had more time to work with and may not have thrown an interception. They could have gone on to win the game.

Their kicking woes continued week 5 vs Colorado State. They would lose the game 24-21, and of course Howell missed a 44 yard field goal in the second quarter. Three weeks later BC went on to play #24 Clemson. The final score to the game was 17-13 Clemson. In the fourth quarter Mike Knoll missed an extra point putting BC up 13-10 opposed to 14-10. Clemson scored a few minutes later going up by four. With less than a minute left BC could have attempted a 48 yard field goal but instead opted to go for it because a field goal would not have tied it and they needed a touchdown. Had they hit the extra point and then went on to kick that field goal they could have upset Clemson.

Last weekend unbeaten Florida State beat BC 20-17. Alex Howell missed a go ahead field goal late. Florida St. then marched down the field and kicker Roberto Aguayo (only missed 2 field goals all year) hit a go ahead field goal to seal the deal.

That is four of BC's five losses that potentially could have been won. That could have mad BC's recors 11-1 which would have been good to win the ACC Atlantic and they'd be playing for the ACC Championship next week against Georgia Tech and potentially in the running for a National Title.

So you see, kickers are people too.

College Football Special: 11/29/14

Rivalry Weekend was a great one this week. The biggest game of the weekend was the Iron Bowl played between Auburn and Alabama. The Tide wanted to bounce back from the tough Iron Bowl loss last year. After a tough first half last night for Blake Sims and the Tide they dominated the second half out scoring the Tigers 34-18 in the half and eventually taking the game 55-44 in the highest scoring Iron Bowl ever. Before the game even started Bama knew they has clinched the SEC West due to Mississippi States loss to Rival Ole Miss. #19 Ole Miss upset their rival, the #4 Bulldogs 31-17 essentially ending their playoff hopes. In Will Muschamp's final game as Florida's head coach he almost pulled off the upset against rival Florida St, yet the Seminoles remain undefeated. Jameis Winston threw four interceptions in this game and is lucky the Gators couldn't capitalize on them. Winston now is 4th among all FBS quarterbacks with 17 interceptions...that's more than one a game! #6 Ohio St. beat rival Michigan 42-28 improving to 11-1, 8-0 in the BIG 10. They will face Wisconsin in the BIG 10 Championship game as the Badgers defeated Minnesota 34-24 in the battle to play Ohio St. However Ohio St. is without quarterback J.T. Barrett broke his ankle and will miss the remainder of the season. The ACC had a good day as Georgia Tech defeated Georgia 30-24 in a crazy overtime game. Georgia Tech tied the game with a 53 yard field goal to end regulation and went on to win in OT. They will play Florida St. in the ACC championship next week. Louisville of the ACC defeated Kentucky, another SEC team, 44-40. Baylor barely survived the scare from un-ranked Texas Tech as they stopped the two point try towards the end of the game to secure the win 48-46. In the third quarter Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty was diagnosed with a concussion in the third quarter and did not finish the game. This could be a big blow to the Bears if he is not healthy for next Saturday's game against #12 Kansas St. In a less meaningful game USC spanked Notre Dame 49-14. The Trojans improve to 8-4 but even more importantly Notre Dame drops their fourth straight and now has a 7-5 record. All in all it was a great day in college football!

After some big teams fell their should be a shake up in the rankings so I will tell you what I think the top 10 should be.

#1-Alabama
#2-Oregon
#3-TCU
#4-Florida State
#5-Ohio State
#6-Baylor
#7-Mississippi State
#8-UCLA
#9-Michigan State
#10-Arizona

You may think Florida State should be higher, however I completely disagree. Only two of their wins are against opponents who could potentially be ranked after this week (Clemson/Louisville) and FSU barely beat Boston College, Miami, and Oklahoma State. The most wins any of those teams has is 7 (Boston College). However FSU deserves to be ranked just due to the fact they went undefeated in a power conference. You could make an argument that Ohio State is better than TCU, but with the loss of J.T. Barrett it is unknown what OSU can do in the future. That's just my opinion.

Later today: Kicker are People Too

Yesterday in Sports: 11/29/14

Yesterday belonged to college football. In fact yesterday was so filled with college football I am not even going to talk about it in this post. It will get its own post later today. DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors was diagnosed Saturday with a torn tendon in his left groin. The injury was suffered during the Raptor's game on Friday, he is out indefinitely. In other NBA news the Mavericks beat the 76ers 110-103 handing them their 16th straight loss to start the season. The 76ers are two losses away from tying the Net's record for most losses to start a season at 18. In the NHL the Rangers beat the Flyers for the third time in their past five games winning 5-2 lead by Derick Brassard's two goals. The Sabres upset the Canadiens 4-3 in a shootout to pick up their 8th win of the season. Very quite day in the MLB off season as well as the NFL.

Later Today:
College Football Special
and also
Kickers Are People Too-Why Kickers Matter

Yesterday's Summary: Black Friday

Yesterday the NHL and NBA got their day after the NFL dominated Thanksgiving. The NHL schedule was highlighted by the Rangers 3-0 shutout of the Flyers in which Cam Talbot stopped all 26 shots against recording his second straight shutout. Martin St. Louis recorded his 1,000 career point in this game with a goal and an assist. He is the 81st player to record 1,000 points in a career. In the NBA Russell Westbrook returned for the Thunder in their 105-78 route of the Knicks. In only 24 minutes Westbrook scored 32 points to go along with his eight assists. The Warrior's continued their winning ways defeating the Hornets. This is the Warriors eighth straight win as the improve to 13-2. In college football Missouri defeated Arkansas 21-14 to clinch a spot in the SEC championship game, also Arizona defeated rival Arizona St. 42-35 to clinch a spot in the Pac-12 championship. Ray Rice won his appeal of his suspension and is allowed to play again, however he still needs to find a team that will sign him. It is very risky to take a chance on Rice, especially this late in the season, but I found some contenders who could possibly use a boost in the running game. The Arizona Cardinals are second to last in the league when it comes to rushing this year, (862 yards) and with Drew Stanton as their quarter back they might want to sign him. The Atlanta Falcons also have a weak rushing offence this season. They are averaging under 100 yards per game and if they want to win the weak NFC South they need to rush more often. Just due to the fact of the crime Ray Rice committed and also that last year Ray Rice had fourth least yards per carry in the NFL he may not be the best option for any team. In other news a big trade took place in the MLB last night. The Oakland Athletics traded 28 year old third baseman Josh Donaldson to the Blue Jays. Last season Donaldson hit 29 home runs and tallied 98 RBIs. In return the A's received Brett Lawrie, Kendall Graveman, Sean Nolin and Franklin Barreto. That concluded yesterday's big day of sports.

Martin St. Louis was not drafted. He played for the University of Vermont for four years concluding in 1997. After not being drafted he signed with the Calgary Flames in 1998. In 69 games for the Flames throughout two seasons he recorded only 20 points. In 2000 he would sign with Tampa Bay Lightning who would be his home for the next 13 years. He tallied 953 points in his lightning career including an 102 point season in 2006-07. In 2003-04 he won the Hart Memorial Trophy (MVP), and as of last night he now has 1,000 points. Congratulations, Martin St. Louis!

Today's Summary: Thanksgiving 2014

Yesterday was a rather quiet day in most sports. There was only one  NHL game and no NBA games. In the one NHL game the Predators continued their strong start to the season defeating the Edmonton Oilers 1-0 in overtime, the goal was scored by Filip Forsberg. However the most important sporting events yesterday were the three football games. All three games were blowouts.The lions beat the bears 34-17 lead by an 146 yard two touchdown performance by Calvin Johnson. The Cowboy's recent struggles continued against the Eagles as they dropped their 3 game in the past 5 weeks. Tony Romo struggled for the Cowboys trowing two interceptions and no touchdowns. LeSean McCoy went off for the eagles with 159 yards including a 38 yard touchdown run. In the late game the Seahawks shut down the 49ers allowing only three points. Richard Sherman intercepted Kaepernick twice on their road to victory, which leads me to my larger piece for the day.

Richard Sherman and Calvin Johnson. When you here these names you think stars. This season they had lost some of that, but yesterday they got it back. Prior to Thursday's game Megatron had only two games with over 100 receiving yards, three touchdowns and much of his season was plagued with injuries. Yesterday he had more targets in a game (11) than he has had in any game for over a year. This was also his first multiple touchdown game since week one. On the other side of the field Richard Sherman had more interceptions in last nights game than he had had all season (1) prior to that. This was Sherman's first game against the 49ers since the NFC championship game last season. As most people know Sherman split up the last play of that game and then went on to say "I'm the best corner in the game. When you try me with a sorry receiver like {Michael} Crabtree, that is the result you are going to get. Don't you ever talk about me," This season Sherman has not been able to prove his what he said, but tonight he gained some of his mojo back.

Stats from ESPN.com

First Post

Hello,
           Welcome to Today In Sports. I will be writing a daily summary about the day in sports around 8:00 P.M. eastern time. Along with that I will write a larger piece about the sports story that I feel is the biggest that day. My first posts will start on Thanksgiving.