Syracuse vs. Notre Dame: Ryan Norton & Cole Murphy. Who Ya Got?

Where have you gone, Patrick Shadle?

The Syracuse Orange placekicking crown has not been an easy one to wear in recent years. SU has a proud history of fantastic kickers (Olindo Mare, Gary Anderson, Dave Jacobs) but the starting gig has been a revolving door in recent seasons due to injuries, the yips and off-field incidents.

The career of Ross Krautman, a.k.a. Das Boot came to an unceremonious end due to injury. That opened the door for Ryan Norton, who opened up one too many cans of Bud Light and came into this season on thin ice. That meant walk-on Cole Murphy was on standby in case something else went wrong.

Murphy was also necessary because he happens to have a stronger boot than Norton, evidenced by SU's decision to go with him instead of the starter for a 49-yarder last weekend against Maryland. When Norton followed that up by missing a chipshot before the half, you had to figure Murphy's Law was in effect.

Looks like the SU starting placekicker job is indeed once again an open competition.

"We'll sit around and talk as coaches, and the best guy wins," Daoust said.

"There's roles for everybody. We'll see how they measure up and what (the roles) end up being this week."

At the very least, expect to see Murphy this weekend for anything beyond 40 yards. Norton might get another shot at anything closer but he's officially out of chances if he wants to keep the gig.