Just for kicks

Clemson fans have had a love-hate relationship with their kickers in recent years.

And it seems there's been more hate than love.

Off the top of my head, I can think of two moments over the last five seasons when the kicker has come up huge:

In 2007, when Mark Buchholz hit a 35-yard field goal as time expired to give Clemson a 23-21 triumph at South Carolina.

In 2005, when Jad Dean went 6-for-6 against Texas A&M -- including the game-winning 42-yarder with two seconds left -- to highlight a 25-24 victory in the season opener.

(Maybe I'm missing one or two. Feel free to mention them.)

Other than that, plenty of moments that go a long way toward explaining and justifying why Clemson fans cringe when their kicker walks onto the field.

It goes further back than last year, when three missed kicks late against TCU and Maryland ended up sending Richard Jackson's confidence into the gutter.

As fondly as Buchholz is recalled for his Gamecock-slaying kick in 2007, his blocked 20-yard attempt against Nebraska ended up being huge in the 26-20 Gator Bowl defeat.

In 2007, Buchholz missed four field goals in a 13-3 loss at Georgia Tech, two in a 20-17 loss to Boston College, and two in a 23-20 bowl loss to Auburn (in fairness, seven of the eight misses were from 45 or more yards out).

The 2006 season brought us the Jad Dean unraveling. He missed form 39 late against South Carolina, allowing the Gamecocks to leave Death Valley with a 31-28 victory. He missed from 38 and 28 early in a 28-20 bowl loss to Kentucky. Oh, and don't forget the spectacle in a 27-20 win at Florida State. The one where Tommy Bowden pledged at halftime "I'm not kicking it anymore."

The struggles with field goals help explain why Clemson has fared so poorly in close games over the last five years. The Tigers are 3-10 in games decided by three points or less, and 9-17 in games decided by seven points or less.

This season's schedule figures to be rife with close games, and the expected loss of all that great field position and explosiveness provided by C.J. Spiller could place even more pressure on the Tigers' kickers.

It doesn't sound as if Chandler Catanzaro has a cannon for a leg, but that's not what his coaches want or need. They merely need someone they can depend on to make the kicks that should be made.

Over the last five seasons, Clemson's kickers have missed 16 attempts from inside 40 yards.

2009: 38, 34, 26
2008: 38, 36, 20
2007: 35, 30, 29
2006: 39, 38, 32, 32, 28
2005: 39, 31

Of course, one way to eliminate costly field-goal misses is to keep the kickers off the field. Tomorrow, we'll take a look at the Tigers' success at converting red-zone opportunities into touchdowns.

On to a few Monday links...

The Boston Globe takes a look at Boston College's receivers.

Big problems at Middle Tennessee. Talented QB Dwight Dasher is the subject of a police investigation.

Lot of questions for North Texas right now.

Jimbo Fisher can't refer to the Seminoles' chief rival as "Florida" or "the Gators."

His description: "That little team down the road."

At Auburn, Gene Chizik sort of compares Cam Newton to Vince Young, Jason Campbell and Daunte Culpepper.

"Physically, he's kind of a mixture of them," Chizik said. "Kind of a mutation of a lot of those guys. I don't know. It's hard for me to say until I see game day."

The folks at Pre-Snap Read rank Miami No. 13 and feature this preview of the Hurricanes.

Coming to a theater near you: "Nick Saban: Gamechanger."

This Alabama beat writer wonders if it'll be an image changer for Saban.

Sigh of relief in Winston-Salem: Devon Brown's knee injury was not major.

Also, a QB update for the Deacons:

Redshirt freshman Brendan Cross didn't make the decision of who will start at quarterback any easier for the Wake Forest coaches with his performance Thursday, when he completed 11 of 13 passes for 104 yards, carried 13 times for 45 yards and three touchdowns and directed touchdown drives on three of his first four possessions.

Sophomore Ted Stachitas, who is still listed as first team, completed 5 of 10 for 107 yards and a touchdown, freshman Tanner Price completed 9 of 16 for 116 yards and a touchdown and junior Skylar Jones completed 8 of 12 for 99 yards. Jones also broke a 65-yard touchdown run.

"We're still probably a week away," assistant coach Tom Elrod said of the final decision. "After the scrimmage what makes it hard is they all four played really well and were consistent.

"But I was talking with Coach (Grobe) today and typically you have one, maybe two, guys. We really feel we have four -- the four we played (Thursday) -- that we can put in the game right now. It's all about consistency.

"Ted's with the ones right now. They've all kind of exceeded expectations right now, but there's still a week to go."

Cross, by the way, has some famous football bloodlines.


LW