Favor to ask of Mike Irwin

[lakecityhog]

I would like to ask Mike Irwin for a favor. (Or any media member reading this)

Please ask BB if the decision to not kick the ball into the end zone is because we simply cannot reach the end zone or if it is by design.

I am not asking you to be disrespectful at all or to try to get him fired up, I am just truly curious as to why we constantly kick to somewhere close to the 5 yard line towards one corner of the field.

[TeufelHog]

It's by design.  CBB is a "Money Ball" statistician kind of strategist.  Limpert can kick it out of the end-zone if he wants to.  Watch the trajectory of his kick-offs.  High - buying time, allowing for the coverage to get down filed to make the tackle.  "Shallow-Out" the trajectory and it travels further through the end-zone.  CBB just doesn't want to give them the "free yards" based on the odds of tackling the runner prior to the 25 yard-line.  DRIVES ME BAT-SHAT CRAZY . . . every game for the past 4 years!

[Jek Tono Porkins]

Limpert booted one in the end zone today so he can apparently do it. I agree with the above poster that the strategy seems to be to take the chance with the kickoff squad and try to pin them further back than a touchback would. And that strategy actually worked today for most of the game. A&M started their drives off of kickoffs from the 19, 15, 11, and 25 until of course the 4th quarter with the runback and the botched short kickoff. It only takes one for that strategy to not work.

Remember Turpin and TCU last year? Same damn thing.

[lakecityhog]

I did not see the kick return, listening on the radio. Was the kick to one corner of the field or was it straight down the middle?

To me, the telling feature of the kick is the landing spot. If the plan is to kick it deep you lick it right down the middle, shortest distance= straight line and all. If it is kicked to a corner it was probably a designed "short" kick.

[Jek Tono Porkins]

I did not see the kick return, listening on the radio. Was the kick to one corner of the field or was it straight down the middle?

To me, the telling feature of the kick is the landing spot. If the plan is to kick it deep you lick it right down the middle, shortest distance= straight line and all. If it is kicked to a corner it was probably a designed "short" kick.

The kickoff that was ran all the way back was a 100 yard kick return. The guy caught the kick on the goal line a little to the left of the left hash, so basically the corner.

Now the kickoff after that one was even worse. It was definitely a designed short kick and was not caught by the kick returner. It was caught around 35 yard line by another player and it was designed to where that player should have been immediately tackled...then after some textbook missed tackling he ran it 14 yards up the field giving A&M the ball on our 49-yard line, which meant all they had to do to get into field goal range was go 19 yards...with three and a half minutes left on the clock...against our defense who had already given up 16 points in the quarter. Why the short kick was executed in that situation is mind-boggling to me. If there's 30 seconds left on the clock, sure, that makes sense.

But with 3 and a half minutes left? I have no earthly idea. That meant the defense basically could only allow two first downs before A&M was in field goal range. I guess he just didn't want to kick it to Kirk again but hell, even if Kirk ran it back a second time, you've still got 3 minutes to go get a touchdown and win the game. Even if he returns it out to the 50, oh well, that's the same result that the designed pooch kick got.

So in that case, it would appear that we have a problem of not having a kicker that could kick it into the end zone because if we could have, we would have done it and gave A&M the ball on the 25 instead of planning to give A&M the ball on the 35. Maybe the kicker is capable of it but they don't practice it enough and didn't want to take that chance.

[Potosihog]

I occasionally hit a 260 yard drive.  But sometimes it is more like 200.  Sometimes you don't get the sweet spot.

If it is by design it is enough to call for his firing alone. 

Problem is with the roster restrictions you really have to find someone who is "able" to kick it in the end zone.  You also need that guy to be a viable option as a FG kicker.

Evidently that is harder to find than any of us knew.

[farmhawg]

It's by design.  CBB is a "Money Ball" statistician kind of strategist.  Limpert can kick it out of the end-zone if he wants to.  Watch the trajectory of his kick-offs.  High - buying time, allowing for the coverage to get down filed to make the tackle.  "Shallow-Out" the trajectory and it travels further through the end-zone.  CBB just doesn't want to give them the "free yards" based on the odds of tackling the runner prior to the 25 yard-line.  DRIVES ME BAT-SHAT CRAZY . . . every game for the past 4 years!

He has horrible special teams, he isn't good with a money ball mentality

[1highhog]

The kickoff that was ran all the way back was a 100 yard kick return. The guy caught the kick on the goal line a little to the left of the left hash, so basically the corner.

Now the kickoff after that one was even worse. It was definitely a designed short kick and was not caught by the kick returner. It was caught around 35 yard line by another player and it was designed to where that player should have been immediately tackled...then after some textbook missed tackling he ran it 14 yards up the field giving A&M the ball on our 49-yard line, which meant all they had to do to get into field goal range was go 19 yards...with three and a half minutes left on the clock...against our defense who had already given up 16 points in the quarter. Why the short kick was executed in that situation is mind-boggling to me. If there's 30 seconds left on the clock, sure, that makes sense.

But with 3 and a half minutes left? I have no earthly idea. That meant the defense basically could only allow two first downs before A&M was in field goal range. I guess he just didn't want to kick it to Kirk again but hell, even if Kirk ran it back a second time, you've still got 3 minutes to go get a touchdown and win the game. Even if he returns it out to the 50, oh well, that's the same result that the designed pooch kick got.

So in that case, it would appear that we have a problem of not having a kicker that could kick it into the end zone because if we could have, we would have done it and gave A&M the ball on the 25 instead of planning to give A&M the ball on the 35. Maybe the kicker is capable of it but they don't practice it enough and didn't want to take that chance.

I don't care how much time is left in the game Imo it's never a good idea to kick the ball like we kicked the ball to them on their last series of regulation, it's a stupid idea.  Just kick the ball out of the end zone every time and the opponent has 75yds to go every time.

[longpig]

The kickoff that was ran all the way back was a 100 yard kick return. The guy caught the kick on the goal line a little to the left of the left hash, so basically the corner.

Now the kickoff after that one was even worse. It was definitely a designed short kick and was not caught by the kick returner. It was caught around 35 yard line by another player and it was designed to where that player should have been immediately tackled...then after some textbook missed tackling he ran it 14 yards up the field giving A&M the ball on our 49-yard line, which meant all they had to do to get into field goal range was go 19 yards...with three and a half minutes left on the clock...against our defense who had already given up 16 points in the quarter. Why the short kick was executed in that situation is mind-boggling to me. If there's 30 seconds left on the clock, sure, that makes sense.

But with 3 and a half minutes left? I have no earthly idea. That meant the defense basically could only allow two first downs before A&M was in field goal range. I guess he just didn't want to kick it to Kirk again but hell, even if Kirk ran it back a second time, you've still got 3 minutes to go get a touchdown and win the game. Even if he returns it out to the 50, oh well, that's the same result that the designed pooch kick got.

So in that case, it would appear that we have a problem of not having a kicker that could kick it into the end zone because if we could have, we would have done it and gave A&M the ball on the 25 instead of planning to give A&M the ball on the 35. Maybe the kicker is capable of it but they don't practice it enough and didn't want to take that chance.

Kicked it straight to the guy that's returned 6 punts for TDs.   

[Kevin]

I would like any media member to ask
Why in year 5, 3rd game, is our offensive line a hodge podge
His discription

[Sed76]

There is a lot of questions that should be asked but won't be. Instead the media will wait til after Bielema is long gone then come on here saying how bad things were behind the scenes like they did with John L.

[Dr. Starcs]

There is a lot of questions that should be asked but won't be. Instead the media will wait til after Bielema is long gone then come on here saying how bad things were behind the scenes like they did with John L.

Exactly. And Petrino.

[Atlhogfan1]

Kicked it straight to the guy that's returned 6 punts for TDs.

That is the dumb part.  You kick to the goal line outside the hashes in most instances.  The exceptions are Kirk and Turpin.  Our dumbasses cant distinguish between them and less talented returners. 

[jkstock04]

There is a lot of questions that should be asked but won't be. Instead the media will wait til after Bielema is long gone then come on here saying how bad things were behind the scenes like they did with John L.

[Fan1958]

I occasionally hit a 260 yard drive.  But sometimes it is more like 200.  Sometimes you don't get the sweet spot.

If it is by design it is enough to call for his firing alone. 

Problem is with the roster restrictions you really have to find someone who is "able" to kick it in the end zone.  You also need that guy to be a viable option as a FG kicker.

Evidently that is harder to find than any of us knew.

Elser kid at Catholic puts the ball anywhere from 8 yards deep to out of the end zone EVERY TIME with enough height coverage would have time to get down the field in case the receiver did decide to run it out.  Yes, he kicks from the 40 in HS (but every kicker evaluated kicks from the 40) but even backed up 5 yards he should be able to kick it 5 yards or so deep and still have the trajectory to allow for coverage.  I have not seen him miss a PAT and he has several FGs in excess of 40 yards, and he kicks to college goalposts as Catholic plays all of their home games at WMS.  I understand he has kicked one from the 60 yd range ion practice, but, yes that was practice but it still demonstrates his ability.  Getting him on a weight program would probably help.

But guess what?  It is my understanding Arkansas is not looking at him.  I would give a competent kicker 2 scholarships.  They are THAT important.

[hobhog]

I'd rather hear explanation of pooch kick when field position was critical, and why he ran out clock at end of first half. Both are mind boggling to me.

[The OTR]

I would like to ask Mike Irwin for a favor. (Or any media member reading this)

Please ask BB if the decision to not kick the ball into the end zone is because we simply cannot reach the end zone or if it is by design.

I am not asking you to be disrespectful at all or to try to get him fired up, I am just truly curious as to why we constantly kick to somewhere close to the 5 yard line towards one corner of the field.

Mike Irwin has better things to do than to take orders from people on Hogville on what questions to ask our coaches. Hate to be that way but let's let the man do his job and ask the questions he wants to ask.  I mean I'd personally like for him to answer one burning question I've had for many years but I'm not going to ask him to ask the million dollar question that we all want to know.

[lakecityhog]

I think I "ASKED" as a favor, no order involved. If you don't want to ask favors , don't, but please don't come on here and try to tell me what to do!

[carolinahogger]

I would give a competent kicker 2 scholarships.  They are THAT important.

How many scholarships would you give to the number 1 ranked high school kicker in the country?

http://247sports.com/Season/2014-Football/CompositeRecruitRankings?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool&Position=K

[TebowHater]

How many scholarships would you give to the number 1 ranked high school kicker in the country?

http://247sports.com/Season/2014-Football/CompositeRecruitRankings?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool&Position=K

Bielema's highest rated recruit ever at his position and he cuts him publicly at a PC. Classic. Like our 4* OL that can't find the field.

[DeltaBoy]

Something afoot Mike Irwin not said a word so he much be as upset as we are or something is going to hit the fan!

[The OTR]

It seems ironic that CBB had so little patience with Hedlund after two misses yet he expects us to have patience with him after five misses with a & m.  Would Bielema the AD have as little patience with a coach who was having as much trouble winning as he has as he had with Hedlund? 

[TebowHater]

It seems ironic that CBB had so little patience with Hedlund after two misses yet he expects us to have patience with him after five misses with a & m.  Would Bielema the AD have as little patience with a coach who was having as much trouble winning as he has as he had with Hedlund?

Fascinating point. Maybe TAMU is like missing 5 40 yard FGs, so it's ok. A loss this week would be, in CBB's words, "juvenile."

[HogPharmer]

Bielema's highest rated recruit ever at his position and he cuts him publicly at a PC. Classic. Like our 4* OL that can't find the field.

That, to me, was truly a low point. Aside from any embarrassing loses... have a conversation with the young man. Don't throw him under the bus immediately post-game. He may have underperformed--no denying that... but a man that's being paid $5 mil a year is underperforming just as bad. And that man chooses to throw a kid under the bus for the loss. A real shame, to say the least.

[The OTR]

I think I "ASKED" as a favor, no order involved. If you don't want to ask favors , don't, but please don't come on here and try to tell me what to do!

I'd love to ask Iron Mike to address the jelly sandwich issue but I have too much class to do so. I know he's got better things to do than find out something that I'm curious about.  I hope he does ask your question. In fact I wish he would allow us here on hogville to submit a list of questions we wanted answered and have him pick one to ask each week. 

[The OTR]

Fascinating point. Maybe TAMU is like missing 5 40 yard FGs, so it's ok. A loss this week would be, in CBB's words, "juvenile."

Hedlund was six inches away from ricocheting that ball through the goalpost and a foot away from it going through cleanly.  We were metaphorically six inches away from a victory yesterday.  What if Long had just gotten rid of Cbb yesterday and said him not winning was juvenile?  Of course hedlund didn't have a 15 million dollar buyout.

[rickm1976]

I would much rather kick it out of the end zone and against teams that have dangerous return men on the field than take a chance of them returning for 6 pts.

[ricepig]

Elser kid at Catholic puts the ball anywhere from 8 yards deep to out of the end zone EVERY TIME with enough height coverage would have time to get down the field in case the receiver did decide to run it out.  Yes, he kicks from the 40 in HS (but every kicker evaluated kicks from the 40) but even backed up 5 yards he should be able to kick it 5 yards or so deep and still have the trajectory to allow for coverage.  I have not seen him miss a PAT and he has several FGs in excess of 40 yards, and he kicks to college goalposts as Catholic plays all of their home games at WMS.  I understand he has kicked one from the 60 yd range ion practice, but, yes that was practice but it still demonstrates his ability.  Getting him on a weight program would probably help.

But guess what?  It is my understanding Arkansas is not looking at him.  I would give a competent kicker 2 scholarships.  They are THAT important.

Umm...not every time. I watched him against Jonesboro, he has a strong leg, but they would have been returnable in college. They were deep, but probably 3 yards deep from the 35. He also kicks his FG's off a tee, and I don't know about his tee for KO's. Now he is the best high school kicker I've seen this year, but Cole Hedlund set the record for FG's and kicked the ball out of the end zone on KO's. To me, kickers/punters should have to earn their scholarship, but to each his own.

[Fan1958]

Umm...not every time. I watched him against Jonesboro, he has a strong leg, but they would have been returnable in college. They were deep, but probably 3 yards deep from the 35. He also kicks his FG's off a tee, and I don't know about his tee for KO's. Now he is the best high school kicker I've seen this year, but Cole Hedlund set the record for FG's and kicked the ball out of the end zone on KO's. To me, kickers/punters should have to earn their scholarship, but to each his own.

What HS kicker doesn't?  OK. How many games are won/lost w/the kicker? A darned lot.

[radar]

I imagine Mike is a little down, he was predicting great things from Bret, if I remember correctly he put off retirement in order to watch the building.

[The OTR]

I imagine Mike is a little down, he was predicting great things from Bret, if I remember correctly he put off retirement in order to watch the building.

Mike's gonna be fine. I just wonder when he's going to show up.

[Josh Goforth]

It's by design.  CBB is a "Money Ball" statistician kind of strategist.  Limpert can kick it out of the end-zone if he wants to.  Watch the trajectory of his kick-offs.  High - buying time, allowing for the coverage to get down filed to make the tackle.  "Shallow-Out" the trajectory and it travels further through the end-zone.  CBB just doesn't want to give them the "free yards" based on the odds of tackling the runner prior to the 25 yard-line.  DRIVES ME BAT-SHAT CRAZY . . . every game for the past 4 years!

This, majority of coaches when the move it out to the 25 for a touchback put more emphasis on kicking inside the ten between the hash and sideline. Forcing teams to return and raising the odds of starting inside 15 yd line or a fumble. Still don't think I'd kick to Kirk or a big time returner, and AM had the perfect return set up.

[JaketheSnake]

Something afoot Mike Irwin not said a word so he much be as upset as we are or something is going to hit the fan!

Nice.   Mike clearly isn't going to show up here to answer crap like this so try to put words in his mouth to get people fired up.

[The OTR]

Something afoot Mike Irwin not said a word so he much be as upset as we are or something is going to hit the fan!

Nice investigative work, Delta.  I was thinking the same thing almost verbatim except I would have replaced much with must and may have tweaked a few other things a bit.  Great minds!!!

[1highhog]

I'd rather hear explanation of pooch kick when field position was critical, and why he ran out clock at end of first half. Both are mind boggling to me.

This ^^^^^!!!!

[Pig in the Pokey]

we pooched it to THE GD 12th MAN of all people!! Talk about stupid.