After three straight games without a field goal, Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham lost patience.
“Our kicking game was atrocious,” Dillingham said after ASU’s 24-14 loss to Cincinnati on Saturday. “So if you can kick, if you’re in the state of Arizona, email me. We’ll try to kick on Monday, so bring it on.”
Asked if he was serious, Dillingham doubled down.
“I’m dead. We’re going to put it out in our community. We’re going to try to kick it off on Monday,” he said. “We’ve got to find someone who can make a field goal. It makes late games even tougher when it’s a kick scenario. That’s when it’s going to be tough.”
Sun Devils kicker Ian Hershey, who started his career at Idaho State, badly missed attempts from 48 and 41 yards on the Sun Devils’ last two drives. Hershey was 7-of-12 on field goal attempts and 18-of-19 on extra point attempts this season. Redshirt freshman Karsten Kiefer missed his only field goal attempt of the season in the opener against Wyoming.
“[Hersey] Kicked off a good pregame. So, I felt good about it, but you know what it is,” Dillingham said. “We’ve got to do a better job of getting him in a better frame of mind to kick him. But by the same token, I have to do a job and put guys on the field who can perform in those situations as well.
Dillingham acknowledged that an open initiative would not lead to change.
“If anyone [good enough]And then, you know, welcome to the team and we’ll rock and roll from there,” Dillingham said.
Turning to the student body for help in kicking is not without precedent.
In 2022, Ole Miss added punter Charlie Pollock to the roster, after which coach Lane Kiffin said, “I don’t know much about him. I think he was at a keg party at the frat house or something. They got him.”
In 2008, the late Mike Leach recruited student Matt Williams to the team at Texas Tech, watching him kick a 30-yard field goal during a game. Williams will remain with the team through the 2010 season.
