All Hail Ross Martin!

[Olympic Fan]

Last weekend was a rough time for some good kickers -- FSU's Robert Aguayo -- the reigning Groza winner -- missed his first field goal of the year at Louisville. I was too sleepy to get their names, but at the end of the Arizona State-Utah game, the two best kickers in the Pac 12 both missed chip shot field goals. Arizona had one blocked.

And I hear a rumor that the guy at Pitt, who is one of the best kickers in the ACC, had a pretty significant miss Saturday afternoon.

All that puts into perspective what Ross Martin is doing at Duke this season. Through eight games, he's PERFECT -- a perfect 11 of 11 on field goals and a perfect 36 of 36 in extra points. In fact, he's working on a school record streak of 96 straight successful extra points.

Martin's perfection has been a bit overlooked since he hasn't been called on for any really dramatic field goals this season -- unlike last year when he hiy the late game-winner vs. UNC and two 50-plus field goals to edge Virginia Tech. His two longest this year were from 48 and 49 yards ... everything else has been short field gols.

But as we saw Saturday, even chip shots aren't automatic -- except when Mr. Martin is kicking them.

[Richard Berg]

Here here!

[OldPhiKap]

Well said, Oly. Ross is a solid as they come.

[Bob Green]

Well said, Oly. Ross is a solid as they come.

Exactly! As the game went to OT yesterday, the first thought that popped into my mind was, "we have Ross!"

[CameronBornAndBred]

His two longest this year were from 48 and 49 yards ... everything else has been short field goals.

Hoping it stays that way! Excellent and well deserved shout out to Ross.

[OldPhiKap]

Exactly! As the game went to OT yesterday, the first thought that popped into my mind was, "we have Ross!"

I thought the exact same thing when we elected to start on the riverside end zone. If it came down to two FGs in the first OT, advantage Duke.

[JasonEvans]

Ross has a real chance to be kicking on Sundays after he is done kicking on Saturdays. He is having a heck of a season!

-Jason "it is so much fun watching Duke football... none of the expectation angst I get from watching hoops " Evans

[Acymetric]

Ross has a real chance to be kicking on Sundays after he is done kicking on Saturdays. He is having a heck of a season!

-Jason "it is so much fun watching Duke football... none of the expectation angst I get from watching hoops " Evans

Would need to show handling kickoffs for that, most teams aren't going to carry a field goal kicker and a kickoff specialist right?

[fuse]

Ross has a real chance to be kicking on Sundays after he is done kicking on Saturdays. He is having a heck of a season!

-Jason "it is so much fun watching Duke football... none of the expectation angst I get from watching hoops " Evans

As much as I hate to admit it, my spoiled Duke basketball fandom is rapidly bleeding over into football.
The game against Pitt felt like a Final Four game to me, and I'll admit I was disappointed we lost at Miami.

Let that sink in a bit- 3,5, 10 years ago I would not have watched a Duke-Miami game at Miami, nor been surprised when I checked the score to learn Duke was beaten badly.
It's exciting to see the Duke football on the rise with a bright future ahead.
It's never too early to be thankful- I'm really thankful that Cut and staff have invested in building a culture and program that I hope is a renaissance of Duke football greatness.

[arnie]

-Jason "it is so much fun watching Duke football... none of the expectation angst I get from watching hoops " Evans

I was wondering if others felt this way. I still assume we're not going to win, and when we do - its a great feeling. I guess watching decades of non-competitive Duke football can do that. Seems like all the decades of bad breaks and bad end-of-game miscues have quickly turned a 180.

[ice-9]

Last weekend was a rough time for some good kickers -- FSU's Robert Aguayo -- the reigning Groza winner -- missed his first field goal of the year at Louisville. I was too sleepy to get their names, but at the end of the Arizona State-Utah game, the two best kickers in the Pac 12 both missed chip shot field goals. Arizona had one blocked.

And I hear a rumor that the guy at Pitt, who is one of the best kickers in the ACC, had a pretty significant miss Saturday afternoon.

All that puts into perspective what Ross Martin is doing at Duke this season. Through eight games, he's PERFECT -- a perfect 11 of 11 on field goals and a perfect 36 of 36 in extra points. In fact, he's working on a school record streak of 96 straight successful extra points.

Martin's perfection has been a bit overlooked since he hasn't been called on for any really dramatic field goals this season -- unlike last year when he hiy the late game-winner vs. UNC and two 50-plus field goals to edge Virginia Tech. His two longest this year were from 48 and 49 yards ... everything else has been short field gols.

But as we saw Saturday, even chip shots aren't automatic -- except when Mr. Martin is kicking them.

I hope this doesn't put a jinx on the guy!!

[budwom]

Frankly I never expected a Martin FG to be the deciding factor because I saw no way we'd ever stop Pitt on the ground. Thank you, coach Chryst, for keeping
Conner on the sideline for the beginning of the second OT...by the way, Conner said he wasn't tired, he just wasn't put in the game. Thank you football gods.

[JasonEvans]

Would need to show handling kickoffs for that, most teams aren't going to carry a field goal kicker and a kickoff specialist right?

I have not paid great attention to Ross' kickoffs, but he is averaging 62.3 yards per kickoff. By comparison, Aguayo of FSU is also averaging 62.3 ypk. Clemson is averaging 60.8 ypk, UNC 64.0 ypk, Ga Tech 63.9 ypk... and so on. Of course, distance kicked is only one part of the equation. Height of the kickoff and the hang-time generated by that height is also significant.

Worth noting that it appears most NFL teams generate a touchback on more than half of their kickoff attempts. League-wide, kickoffs end up in touchbacks about 44% of the time. I looked but I can't seem to find the collegiate numbers on this. Of course, a touchback is not always the ideal -- some would say a higher kick that goes to about the goal line is what you really want as it may give you the opportunity to pin a team deep in their end, especially in college as a touchback results in the ball at the 25 yard line, not the 20. So, is Ross really trying to put the ball deep in the end-zone or is his goal to allow the opposing team to bring it out so we can stop them before the 25?

Anyway, I think Ross will get a shot in preseason with some NFL team in a couple years. He was the #1 kicking prospect coming out of high school, so NFL special teams coaches have likely been aware of him for a while.

-Jason "having a solid kicker is really worth something in close games!" Evans

[OldPhiKap]

Frankly I never expected a Martin FG to be the deciding factor because I saw no way we'd ever stop Pitt on the ground. Thank you, coach Chryst, for keeping
Conner on the sideline for the beginning of the second OT...by the way, Conner said he wasn't tired, he just wasn't put in the game. Thank you football gods.

Coaching won it for us at the end, and/or Pitt's coaching lost it for them in the end. At the end of the day, that was the difference between the teams and in the result.

[Duvall]

Of course, a touchback is not always the ideal -- some would say a higher kick that goes to about the goal line is what you really want as it may give you the opportunity to pin a team deep in their end, especially in college as a touchback results in the ball at the 25 yard line, not the 20. So, is Ross really trying to put the ball deep in the end-zone or is his goal to allow the opposing team to bring it out so we can stop them before the 25?

I strongly suspect that those people are wrong. The difference between giving your opponent a starting field position inside the 25 and starting field position at the 25 just doesn't seem that great, especially since even poor kick returns seem to make it out to at least the 15 yard line. The difference certainly doesn't seem worth the risk of a long kick return, which can be devastating.

[Bob Green]

I have not paid great attention to Ross' kickoffs, but he is averaging 62.3 yards per kickoff.

Duke is averaging 62.3 yards per kickoff not Ross Martin. Jack Willoughby handles most of the kickoff duties for Duke. Willoughby kicked off all six times against Pitt:

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.db...CLID=209744730

[AncientPsychicT]

I hope this doesn't put a jinx on the guy!!

Let the Snyderwine-ification commence?

[paris95]

I was wondering if others felt this way. I still assume we're not going to win, and when we do - its a great feeling. I guess watching decades of non-competitive Duke football can do that. Seems like all the decades of bad breaks and bad end-of-game miscues have quickly turned a 180.

Completely understand and agree. I'll admit to going to having old doubts creep in when Pitt got the ball with 2 minutes left. After the long fluttering pass, I thought, "this is back to the way we used to lose games." I've just watched or listened to us find creative ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory so many times over the years: double hail mary passes against Maryland in '93, our own missed chip shot against Wake in 2006 after a flawless 2 minute drill to get down the field, UNC's freshman kicker nailing a 50+ FG into the wind as time expired in 2002.

That said, this staff and this team have broken that history and we're now finding ways to WIN those games at the end. What Cut and staff have done to change the attitude, in addition to all of the on-field stuff, is truly remarkable.

[arnie]

Completely understand and agree. I'll admit to going to having old doubts creep in when Pitt got the ball with 2 minutes left. After the long fluttering pass, I thought, "this is back to the way we used to lose games." I've just watched or listened to us find creative ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory so many times over the years: double hail mary passes against Maryland in '93, our own missed chip shot against Wake in 2006 after a flawless 2 minute drill to get down the field, UNC's freshman kicker nailing a 50+ FG into the wind as time expired in 2002.

That said, this staff and this team have broken that history and we're now finding ways to WIN those games at the end. What Cut and staff have done to change the attitude, in addition to all of the on-field stuff, is truly remarkable.

I swore off Duke football after sitting in the stands during the Maryland game you mentioned. Md on their 13 yd line with 13 seconds , no timeouts and down by 5. Impossible to lose that game since pass interference on either pass results in only 15 yd penalty, leaving one play left. I don't think our CBs even understood that.

Of course, I came back for more the next year.

[Olympic Fan]

Duke is averaging 62.3 yards per kickoff not Ross Martin. Jack Willoughby handles most of the kickoff duties for Duke. Willoughby kicked off all six times against Pitt:

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.db...CLID=209744730

For the record, Martin is averaging 61.3 on his six kickoffs this season. He averaged 61.8 on 70 kickoffs last season -- with 20 touchbacks.


Two points -- almost all last year and early this season, Cutcliffe wanted the short kickoff. I remember him praising Martin a year ago for the height and placement of his kicks -- when Duke had one of the nation's best kickoff coverage teams. Early this season, he also opted for the short kick. It was only after our kickoff coverage proved so erratic than he opted for the longer kickoffs.