Will Notre Dame's Kicking Game Get Legs in 2010?

When Texas beat Nebraska last year in the BIG 12 Championship game, the lasting impression in my mind was Hunter Lawrence's 46-yard field goal sailing through the goal posts as time ran out.  

This was probably the biggest field goal of the 2009 college season, but every team can look back to a big field goal that decided at least one game last year.

For Notre Dame, the kicking game will be crucial in their quest to win eight or nine games in 2010.  Will it be able to answer the call?

In 2007, Brandon Walker made six of 12 field goals and in 2008 he made 14 of 24.  Too many times Irish fans pointed to his performance as a factor in losing close games. 

When lowly Syracuse upset Notre Dame in 2008, Walker's last second field goal attempt missed, and the Orangemen won 24-23.  This was the game that triggered the overwhelming disappointment Irish fans felt about coach Charlie Weis.

Walker remained on last year's roster but was replaced  by freshman Nick Tausch.

Trausch made 14 of 17 field goals but missed the last three games of the 2010 season.  Some say it was due to injury—others say it was because of two misses against Navy, a game which Notre Dame lost 23-21.

David Ruffer finished out the season and made all five of his field goal attempts.

Though the accuracy was clearly improved, Notre Dame still had problems to be addressed in the kicking game. 

For one, the Irish missed four extra points last year.  While every team misses one or two during a season, four is on the high side—but there's a bigger problem than missed extra points:

The biggest problem with the kicking game is  lack of distance.  Last season Tausch's longest field goal was 46 yards and Ruffer's was 42.

In 2010, six of Notre Dame's opponents return kickers who kicked at least one field goal 50 yards or longer.  Carson Wiggs of Purdue, a kicker whom the Irish face in their opening game, kicked one of 59 yards.

And what about the kickoffs? Every time a kicker puts a kickoff in the end zone it does two things;  It keeps the ball out of the hands of a kick returner, and it takes away field position.

Featured columnist Eric Murtaugh puts it this way; "The power issue comes in to play more with kickoffs, where we haven't had a touchback since like 2003."

In 2009 the Irish had three kickers on their roster.  This year, while Tausch and Ruffer return, Coach Kelly chose to recruit another kicker. 

Kyle Brindza of Canton, Michigan will either get a shot at the starting job or he will be asked to redshirt. 

It seems the kicker position is still undecided.  Apparently no one has stepped forward to claim it.

When Hunter Lawrence walked on the field and kicked Texas into last year's BCS Championship Game, it was no fluke.  Hunter made 24 of 27 field goals, and 61 of 62 extra points.

Last year, Alabama's Leigh Tiffen kicked 30 field goals in 35 attempts and he hit one from 50 yards out.

And Nebraska's improvement had a lot to do with kicker Alex Henery. Last year Henery was successful on 24 of 28 field goals, 38 of 38 extra points, and one of those field goal traveled 52 yards.

The good teams, for the most part, have good kickers.  If their kickers aren't the most accurate, they're likely to have big legs.

Notre Dame's kicking game got better in 2009, but will it be enough to win those close games when it needs a field goal from 45-50 yards out?  Will it be enough when the pressure's on. 

Will the kicking game be looked at as weapon, or a deficiency?

While It's hard to tell what Coach Kelly is thinking (if he's satisfied with his two returning kickers, or if he recruited Brindza for the job ), one thing is certain:

There's going to be that one game in 2010 which Irish fans reflect upon, and it's likely to be decided by the kicker.