The Annexing Of Lichtenstein

by Sean Keeley on Oct 27, 2009 12:53 AM EDT

One overlooked incident in Saturday's game against Akron was the benching of freshman kicker Ryan Lichtenstein. The greatest walk-on-turned-scholarship-true-freshman-starting kicker in the history of Syracuse football has run into a little bit of a rough patch:

Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone benched kicker Ryan Lichtenstein after he missed a 39-yard field goal in the third quarter and replaced him for the rest of the game with Jake Smith.

Marrone said Lichtenstein had a poor warm-up that he thought carried over into the game. Whether it’s temporary switch or not depends on how the two kickers compete in practice next week.

Lichtenstein started the year extremely well but in his last two games he's missed an extra point and a field goal. SU isn't in a position to give up one point, let alone three.

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SU isn’t in a position to give up one point, let alone ~~three~~ Four.

Extra point and a fg is 4 pts.

by ryanwk628 on Oct 27, 2009 8:56 AM EDT reply actions

I was

trying to say that we cant give up an extra point, let alone a field goal.

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by Sean Keeley on Oct 27, 2009 12:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Sure you were.

by ryanwk628 on Oct 27, 2009 12:59 PM EDT up reply actions

I feel a banning coming on...

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by Sean Keeley on Oct 27, 2009 2:37 PM EDT up reply actions

haha!

by ryanwk628 on Oct 27, 2009 3:19 PM EDT up reply actions

Wait a sec.

This may come as a surprise to yinz but the extra point was missed due to a snap that hit the holder on his foot, his left foot.
Ryan gets a free pass on that one.

by Pitt on Oct 27, 2009 10:33 AM EDT reply actions

I was going to say. I thought that I remembered that being a botched snap.

by Orange22 on Oct 27, 2009 5:39 PM EDT up reply actions

I don't like it

The kid has been great all year – he misses a 39 yard FG and you bench him when his next two kicks would have been extra points???? I think hitting a couple EPs would help get his confidence and rythym going.

by Russianator on Oct 27, 2009 12:20 PM EDT reply actions

Who knows?

Maybe there is an issue here. Perhaps they want him taking practices and warmups more seriously.

I think we are just used to the fact that G-Rob would have strained his wrists clapping at Ryan after the missed figgie… it’s all so new.

by ezcuse on Oct 27, 2009 12:24 PM EDT reply actions

Remember back...

when he missed the 10 yard kick during warmups. I know he won the Northwestern game but maybe there is a pattern and HCDM thighs have had enough.

by moosedontbounce on Oct 27, 2009 2:34 PM EDT reply actions

TheWiz Analyzes this situation

Don’t like how Casullo is handling this. Yes, I said Casullo because I don’t believe HCDM was involved in this decision. Let’s go back, the kid misses a 39 yard field goal by a yard left and gets pulled. Something sure smells Lake Ontario fishy! Let’s take into account HCDM post game comments about this issue, “Ryan didn’t have a good pregame warmup and everyone needs to be accountable.” What a crock of BS. HCDM isn’t out on the field during ST warmup so all he can go on is Casullo’s judgement. I happened to be one of the few fans who arrive early enough each game to watch ST practice. Licky clanked 2, yes I said 2 attempts off the post and made all the rest of his kicks including a 50 yarder so if that in Casullo’s opinion is having a bad warmup, well god help those who miss tackles on his special teams coverages. Maybe they should be shipped off to Canada, eh!

Ok, so here is my take. As many have noticed there were LOADS of Milfred Prep athletes that were on the field for pregame warmups. I would venture to say that HCDM is interested in a few of these guys. Now, lets say when the Milfred Coach informed us that they were going to attend the game he happened to let loose that some of these kids have commented that our backup kicker/punter (came from Milfred) really hasn’t been given a shot and that might somehow way into their decision on whether to committ to us or choose another school. You gotta admit it is kind of curious about the timing of all of this. Along with WHO THE HECK REPLACES A KICKER AFTER 1 MISS?

But hey, my brain cells work overtime too often sometimes, but that is why they call me TheWiz.

by TheWiz on Oct 27, 2009 2:50 PM EDT reply actions

I'll take Lichtenstein

Compared to the other kickers I’ve seen around the country(many of them that I am refering to play for USF), I’ll take what we have.

Over the weekend I saw countless other kickers miss from closer, easier spots. Even the Saints kicker missed a PAT and he’s a pro. It just happens every once and a while.

by actioncuse on Oct 27, 2009 3:40 PM EDT reply actions