[October 8, 2011] #19 Indiana State (4-1) at #2 Northern Iowa (3-1)

[Fridae00]

I'll apologize now for any typos, I'm riding shotgun on our way home from the game.
But to the point, is it hard to read about a missed fg? No, it was a miss, plain and simple. As my son says, no excuses.
Do I understand that the fans expect perfection out of the kickers even though they make mistakes just like every other player out there? Absolutely!
Is it unrealistic? Yep. Will it ever change, doubt it.
But then again, as a kicker's mom, I knew that coming into the game and onto this forum. It takes a lot more than what I've read to scare me off, plus I've gotten valuable info about all things Sycamore from a few of the regulars, so it's worth it for me.

 

[SycamoreStateofMind]

I've seen a lot of missed kicks at this level and the pros. It happens just like interceptions, dropped passes, sacks, etc. If we just called for replacements at every position that has bad plays, well, where would we be. all.

Well said and you didn't offend anyone.

 

[bent20]

I appreciated the touchbacks. Those were important against UNI's explosive return game. Missed FGs are part of the game and I'm not sure they would have been enough to help us in the end anyway. Although you never know how things would have played out if we did make them. Time to forget about those (both us and especially our kickers) and move on to the next game. Personally, I was more upset about the hits on Bell. Hate to use that as an excuse but he was torching that defense. No doubt we would have scored some TDs if he wasn't knocked out of the game.

 

[new sycamore fan]

You two kicking Moms on here are always welcome, and we (players parents) understand and are very happy to have your boys. They have done a good job, and are a huge improvement to what we have seen the last several years. As everyone on here should understand--the 2 players will be harder on themselves than anyone on here is on them, so they should just stick to their guns, keep working hard, and next week is a new week.

 

[bent20]

I don't expect Cheesborough to be like Bell, but he should have helped our cause today. He didn't prove to me to deserve to be our second string. I would like to see more of Harris. Did Gabbard redshirt, because I haven't heard anything said about him on here lately?

Isn't he a freshman redshirt? Not sure why you're bringing him up in this context since he's a WR. I'm assuming you're moving on to another topic.

In regard to Lough, he had a two yard rushing average on seven carries. Cheeseborough, a 2.7 average on 11 carries. Clearly our running game wasn't as effective once Bell went out, but those averages don't reflect some nice runs we had for first downs, or to set up first downs.

 

[Fridae00]

Thanks for the comments! I can tell you in the coming weeks you'll see tanner getting stronger and stronger. He's very happy to be back, and will be mentally prepared for whatever they put him in for. He's got that first college fg attempt under his belt, with or without practice, and he's only looking forward...As he should...

 

[Chief_Quabachi]

Tanner will be just fine.

 

[True Blue]

im sure its tough to get on here and see people talking about your son. However, xp's absolutely have to be made 99.9% of the time. Its probably the most automatic part of the game. However, we have been inconsistent on xp's all year and last year to. FG's are a different story. FG misses happen. Some are long, some aren't. We have to improve and if that means getting someone else, then so be it. Its the harsh reality of D-1 athletics. Nothing personal.

 

[landrus13]

I think we should let Tanner handle all of the kicking duties. He seems to have the more powerful leg of the two. I like Little, but he has just been too inconsistent for me.

 

[Kickingfan]

SCORING (KICK) Cl G PAT FG Pts Avg/G
1. Sievertsen, T.-UNI So 5 18-18 8-9 42 8.4
2. Little, Cory-INS Fr 6 21-24 6-9 39 6.5
3. MacLachlan, Jac-SIU So 5 13-13 5-8 28 5.6
4. Aussieker,Nick-ILS Fr 6 21-23 4-9 33 5.5
5. Jastram,Ryan-NDSU Sr 5 20-22 2-3 26 5.2
6. Brown, David-YSU Jr 5 24-26 0-1 24 4.8
7. Harris,Kyle-SDSU Sr 5 5-7 3-4 14 2.8
8. Smith, Pat-WIU So 5 9-11 1-3 12 2.4
9. Witmer,Austin-MSU So 6 7-8 1-1 10 1.7

Someone tell me again that kickers never miss. And bad snaps and slips and falls too. And that's just our conference. Just saying....now I'm done.

 

[Callmedoc]

I think we should let Tanner handle all of the kicking duties. He seems to have the more powerful leg of the two. I like Little, but he has just been too inconsistent for me.

I am not gonna take sides as we are asking for trouble with the relatives of both kickers on here BUT, kicking isn't all about strength.

 

[Jason Svoboda]

Agreed on that DG3.

One thing folks are forgetting is both Cory and Tanner are underclassmen. They've still got a lot of development, growth and maturing to do as college football players. Remember back to when the Sewalls, the Gefferts and the other seniors were underclassmen -- they made mistakes, too!

I think fans will always be frustrated when things don't go their team's way. Even more, there are fans to actually be frustrated these days and that's a far cry from the first posts that were so prevalent in the football forum here.

 

[Callmedoc]

Agreed on that DG3.

One thing folks are forgetting is both Cory and Tanner are underclassmen. They've still got a lot of development, growth and maturing to do as college football players. Remember back to when the Sewalls, the Gefferts and the other seniors were underclassmen -- they made mistakes, too!

I think fans will always be frustrated when things don't go their team's way. Even more, there are fans to actually be frustrated these days and that's a far cry from the first posts that were so prevalent in the football forum here.

Second that, kicking game is always tough to judge and people tend to pass judgement as quickly as they can...still two young kickers. I would stick with little for field goals and tanner for kickoffs FOR NOW...throwing a freshman kicker into a situation where he has to make a kick possibly to send a team to the playoffs or not has, the "lets find a new kicker" conversation redo all over it.

 

[Callmedoc]

On the subject of family members on sycamorepride, when my fiancé moved in with me we had this conversation:
Her: whatya doing?
Me: posting on sycamorepride
Her: what are you posting?
(puts arms around me)
Me: (can't remember the exact subject)
Her: don't you think that's a little mean about someone who plays for your team? That's someone's son, how would that make them feel?
Now, not saying to censor what you say, just remember that's someone's kid. God knows I tend to let my opinion be known.

 

[Fridae00]

I can't speak for Cory's mom, but I can assure you that I can take anything I read on this site. I've been around sports my whole life, both as a competitor and sister of three brothers that played multiple sports including football. As for the comments I read earlier, I don't take it personally, I actually laugh at how quickly that person is to judge a 19 year old freshman, and a sophomore kicker. I haven't seen any comments made like that when a tackle is missed, a pass isn't caught, an assignment is missed.... And as I laugh, I say a quick prayer that he isn't that hard on any of his kids, if he has any....

 

[Callmedoc]

I can't speak for Cory's mom, but I can assure you that I can take anything I read on this site. I've been around sports my whole life, both as a competitor and sister of three brothers that played multiple sports including football. As for the comments I read earlier, I don't take it personally, I actually laugh at how quickly that person is to judge a 19 year old freshman, and a sophomore kicker. I haven't seen any comments made like that when a tackle is missed, a pass isn't caught, an assignment is missed.... And as I laugh, I say a quick prayer that he isn't that hard on any of his kids, if he has any....

Kind of the point...let's try to not to make complete asses of ourselves. And treat other people the way we would want to be treated. On a side note, what the hell is wrong with me? I have Gone soft.

 

[BigBlue79]

Fans will be fans....if he makes it...we love him and little is going to be the best kicker in ISU history...if he misses it...he sucks and should have never gone here and why hasn't miles pulled him...this kid will be ok...nailing 40 yarders...his senior year..they will be 50's.....patience....the punter and tanner fritschle are going to be very good too.....The unidome is very tough atmosphere....that was big game....kids had a bad game...it happens...

 

[bent20]

I respect and appreciate all of these players and their hard work. Felt good to stand there in the stands yesterday and applaud them as they came over to see their families after the game.