Punting game looking to get a leg up

Three games into the season a Sevin Sucurovic has not emerged. Back in the spring, the word was our punter would be here in the fall. The savior Tim Masthay has had a rough start, however he has the politician-spin approach to where he is in the plight for success right now.

“Through the three games, I have progressed and gotten better, so my plan is to continue that trend with my kickoffs and punting,” Masthay said.

We asked Masthay if he had to give himself a grade thus far, what would it be? “C! I haven’t lived up to my potential but I haven’t done a poor job necessarily for a true freshman. It could’ve been better, it could’ve been worse.”

When we were able to see you in practice, you were making progress. What’s been different in the games?

Masthay said: “When you get in a game in front of thousands of people it’s different, but like I said it’s gotten better each game. And in the Indiana game we netted 39 yards – solid numbers.”

“He had his best day against Indiana,” Coach Rich Brooks said. “He said he (Masthay) had one poor punt and the rest were all either acceptable or pretty good.”

As aforementioned, Masthay is not carrying it to the game and why? Brooks said: “A lot of players can do some things on the practice field and have a hard time translating it to the game,” Brooks said. “You know it’s there and hopefully it is starting to come now.”

On the kickoffs that’s been handled by Taylor Begley the last game and a half, Brooks said they are working with Masthay again because Begley has a hip flexor injury preventing him from handle the kicking chores.

Special teams coach Steve Ortmayer said the kickoff change was made because of the two Masthay kicked out of bounds in the Idaho State game. “We are a kickoff team that needs to know where the kick is going to be kicked and we can go cover it,” Ortmayer said. “And if its not there, there’s a problem. That’s part of his inexperience. We’re working with him again – we work with him everyday and when he’s ready he’ll do it.”

Masthay said that the coaches didn’t want to throw him to the Lions (Bengal Tigers in this case).

Masthay said referring to high school and the All-Star game: “Here it is different because you are kicking to the corner. Ideally, you don’t want to kick in the back of the endzone. You want it right on the goal line and tackle him on the fifteen-yard line. It is that and the fact that I have kicked here more than I have in my life and my leg is not very fresh.”

It high time he gets a leg up on the punting. No better time to start than the Florida game.