End of season report: Clemson kicking game

By Bob Wilson  |   Tuesday, March 06, 2007  |  Comments( 7 )

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Going into the 2006 season, most Clemson fans felt good about their place-kicker and were very nervous about the punting situation. What a difference a few months make, though. Kicker Jad Dean went from All-American candidate to goat in a matter of weeks, and punter Cole Chason ended his college career on the upswing.

Dean entered his senior season as a preseason pick to win the Lou Groza Award, annually given to the nation's top kicker. Unfortunately for the Greenwood, S.C., native, things went south in a hurry. Dean was coming off a banner year in which he booted 24-of-31 attempts through the uprights. He made all six tries against Texas A&M in the 2005 season opener, including the game winner as time expired.

The Tiger kicker had been known for his strong leg and propensity to blast kickoffs all the way through the endzone for touchbacks. However, he was unable to get his kickoffs anywhere near the goal line in 2006. His poor kicks led to huge returns and consistently put the defense in a hole. Although Dean would never admit it, some felt a preseason injury affected him in the early parts of last year.

Even more disturbing was the amount of attempts that Dean had blocked last year. The potential game-tying point after against Boston College was blocked in Week 2, and the senior's confidence seemed to erode. Against Florida State, he had a PAT and a field goal blocked. To make matters worse, both were returned for scores.

There has been much debate about why the kicks were blocked. Coach Tommy Bowden said Dean was too slow getting the kicks off. Some media outlets noted that the blocks were coming from the left side of the Clemson line. Bowden substituted his personnel and placed starters on the left side of the line at halftime of the FSU game and the blocks stopped.

Sadly for Dean, the misses didn't cease. By the end of the season, Dean appeared to have zero confidence. He missed a field goal of fewer than 40 yards against South Carolina with time winding down that would have likely forced overtime. In the Music City Bowl loss to Kentucky, he missed two more short kicks before finally being pulled. It was a truly sad ending for a player who should have been remembered for his run on the fake that led to an improbable come-from-behind victory at Miami in 2004 or his winning kick against the Aggies in 2005.

On the other hand, Chason was anything but steady leading up to his senior campaign. He was the one having his kicks blocked in record numbers in '05. Bowden was all set to replace Chason with freshman Richard Jackson, but the senior kept his job after Jackson got injured.

Clemson changed its punt formation from a spread-out line to a traditional set and the results were great. While Chason didn't earn any All-ACC honors with his pedestrian 41.3-yard average, he still improved vastly from '05. Most importantly, none of his punts were blocked. The senior also improved upon the trajectory of his punts and was able to get more air under them, which allowed the coverage team to get downfield.

Bowden has proven that given an entire offseason, he can fix the punting problems. The question is, Can he and his staff fix the kicking issues while maintaining the punt game and replacing two kickers?

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CommentsComments: 7  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Marc H.		02:35 PM
03/07/2007
Dean's case is indeed a tragic one. Although I've never seen anything pinpointing the cause of this problem I've heard a couple...
No.2
Agent Orange		11:39 AM
03/08/2007
Rumor around campus all last year was that Deans girlfriend broke up with him after a few years of dating and serious...
No.3
Charles		04:16 PM
03/29/2007
Interesting article, but you put too dark a tint on Dean's season. To say "was unable to get his kickoffs anywhere near the goal...
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