HS- great notes. I have noticed a couple of things.
1. Lacey is dancing a little in the holes. He has strength and speed. He needs to hit the hole and go through it. I don't know if the turf toe caused any of that last night.
2.Last year Foster could reach the endzone. This year we have gone with direction and height. I like the idea, but you do have to be careful with speed on the other end. Lucky Demps didn't return kicks after he rolled his ankle. But why do you think we did not change up and reduce the speed by kicking deep?
1. Lacey is dancing a little in the holes. He has strength and speed. He needs to hit the hole and go through it. I don't know if the turf toe caused any of that last night.
2.Last year Foster could reach the endzone. This year we have gone with direction and height. I like the idea, but you do have to be careful with speed on the other end. Lucky Demps didn't return kicks after he rolled his ankle. But why do you think we did not change up and reduce the speed by kicking deep?
I would think they worry about the trajectory. It is lower when he hits it out of/into the endzone. If he doesn't make it that deep then the returner has a full head of steam and he cover team is not down there. Just my opinion. As I have said before, it looks to me that he is trying to kill the ball and muscle up before hitting it. I equate it to a smooth golf swing. Think about what happens when you try to muscle a shot in golf.
Reply to 1--Lacy did not "dig" in the game. He ran higher in the saddle, only slightly, but he wasn't centered over his base and couldn't have spun out of an arm tackle if he wanted to. Nor was he lowering his center enough to punish anyone with a leading shoulder, which suggests that he wasn't able to push.
Reply to 2--Saban addressed this in the presser, claiming that there was no design to kick higher or shorter, that Saban would prefer he kicked it "in the stands every time," I believe the quote was. Saban compared the issue to confidence in a golf swing, suggesting that Foster is more concerned with technique than he should, that he needs to gain confidence in his kicking in the game. Saban said that Foster does not have this issue in practice, that he is more than capable of booting the ball through the end zone.