GA News: OnlineAthens - Georgia lacks previous punch on field goals

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From OnlineAthens.com
October 13th, 2016 01:51 PM

Georgia knew it could be quite the adventurous year when it came to kicking field goals this season.
“Scared to death is what it is,” coach Kirby Smart said back in the winter.
The Bulldogs have switched from one walk-on to another this season, going from William Ham to Rodrigo Blankenship.
Georgia has made 4 of 9 field goal attempts this season, a .444 percentage that ranks last in the SEC.
Blankenship is 1 of 2 since taking over before the Ole Miss game on Sept. 24, but the Bulldogs are still looking for the their first field goal of 30 or more yards this season.
Only Virginia, LSU, UMass, Nebraska and Washington State can say the same, according to kicking statistics at ESPN.com.
That’s quite a change for a program that had Marshall Morgan, Blair Walsh, Brandon Coutu and Billy Bennett who regularly booted field goals from 40 yards and beyond under Mark Richt.
“Bulldog nation expects excellence from every player and that includes specialists,” Blankenship said.
If offensive players feels added pressure to get into the red zone to get in field goal range, they aren't saying.
“We have an offensive goal to try and get points on any drive whether it’s a field goal or a touchdown,” wide receiver Reggie Davis said. “I have faith in our kickers. It’s a part of the game. You can’t make them all, but you definitely try to make a majority of them.”
Georgia coaches have chosen to leave the offense on the field at times in recent games instead of trotting on the field goal unit.
At Ole Miss, after Blankenship missed from 36, Georgia went for it on fourth-and-8 at the 29 but was already trailing 24-0.
At South Carolina, Georgia took a delay of game penalty on fourth-and-5 at the 31 and punted from the 36. On a third-and-13 at the 29, Smart said he mismanaged the clock when not using a timeout with five seconds left in the first half, but he may have been throwing into the end zone anyway instead of trying a field goal on a windy day.
“The decision is based on what you do in the week when you kick field goals,” Smart said. “That’s basically the decision. Whether to punt it or go for the first down, when it’s 4th-and-1, statistics say you got a better chance of getting it than 4th-and-8. It also depends on the situation in the game. Are we ahead? Are we stopping them on defense? There’s a lot of things that go into those decisions.”
Morgan made four field goals of 40 or more yards each of the past two seasons, seven in 2013 and three in 2012. Of those, five were from 50 yards or longer.
Blair Walsh, now with the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, made 29 field goals at Georgia from 40 yards or longer, including 10 from 50 yards or beyond.
Ham's misses included from 42, 52, and 38 and Blankenship from 36.
Walsh is the SEC’s No. 1 all-time leading scorer with 412 points and Morgan is No. 3. with 407.
Blankenship has enough leg to make field goals inside the 50, but can he do it consistently?
Smart says he’s big on statistics and he’s going to go off what the statistics say in practice on how Blankenship is kicking it.
“We’ve got to go with the best decision that coach picks,” running back Sony Michel said. “Whatever it is, I’m comfortable with it.”


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