There appears to be a very open kicking competition at Arizona State ahead of Week 9.
ASU coach Kenny Dillingham was so frustrated with his team’s struggles after Saturday’s loss at Cincinnati that he said any student who can kick a football should send him an email.
Serious. When asked about the in-game strategy during his post-game press conference, Dillingham made it clear how unhappy he was with his team’s situation at kicker.
“You can be aggressive, but just because you convert doesn’t guarantee you can make it one possession. So you would hope that you could make a kick – one of those, but our kicking game is awful. So if you can kick it and you’re in the state of Arizona, shoot me an email. We will do a first try-out on Monday. So bring it on. Taking test drives on Monday. Let’s go.”
When asked if he was serious, Dillingham made it clear that he was very serious.
“Deadly serious,” he said. “We’re going to put it on our social media, and we’re going to do a kick-out on Monday. We need to find someone who can make a field goal.
Kenny Dillingham said ASU will host kickoff tryouts on Monday:
“Our kicking game is horrible. If you can kick and you’re at Arizona State, send me an email. We have kicking tryouts on Monday…I’m dead serious.”@DevilsDigest pic.twitter.com/tUsrZDP4Wi
— Justin LaCertosa (@LaCertosaSports) October 19, 2024
ASU kicker Ian Hershey was 0-of-2 on field goal attempts in the 24-14 loss. Both kicks came on back-to-back possessions in the fourth quarter. After Cincinnati turned around on downs at the ASU 3-yard line, Hershey missed a 48-yard field goal with 6:01 remaining.
The Sun Devils got the ball back after forcing a Cincinnati punt and were forced to score twice with less than two minutes left. After driving into field goal range with 36 seconds left, Hershey missed a 41-yard field goal.
His kicking woes aren’t the reason ASU lost. If he makes the first field goal, Arizona State still needs a TD and an extra point to tie. But Hershey also hasn’t made a field goal in any of ASU’s last four games. He did not attempt a kick in ASU’s win over Utah in Week 7, missed a field goal in the team’s 35–31 win over Kansas and missed his only field goal attempt in the team’s 30–22 loss to Texas Tech in Week 4.
For the season, Hershey is now 7 of 12 on the season and 2 of 4 from 40-49 yards, while ASU is 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the Big 12.
