As kickers Dan Ennis and Obi Egekeze jockeyed for the starting spot during fall camp, Terrapin football coach Ralph Friedgen assured reporters that whichever player won the job would have to hold onto it.
“Whoever the guy is, [if] he misses a few, there’ll be another guy in there very fast,” Friedgen said.
Ennis won the job and kicked well against William & Mary, drilling both of his field goal attempts. And even though Ennis failed to connect on two mid-range field goals Saturday night against Middle Tennessee, Friedgen said Ennis is still slated to start Thursday at West Virginia.
“Dan’s the starter, Obi’s the starter on kickoffs, that has not changed for this week,” special teams coordinator Ray Rychleski said.
Midway through the first quarter, Ennis made a 37-yarder, but wasn’t as automatic in his other attempts. He missed from 31 yards late in the second quarter and from 43 yards in the fourth quarter. Ennis’ 1-for-3 night was the Terps’ only glaring negative on special teams.
“We just can’t afford to be missing those,” Friedgen said. “They’re not that long. They should be chip shots.”
As the incumbent, Ennis held the No. 1 spot throughout most of training camp, with his game experience representing the final edge. But his 17-of-25 record last year has an asterisk: Ennis made his first 11 attempts last season – and missed eight of his final 14 opportunities.
Egekeze’s only field goal statistics come from high school, as the sophomore missed all of last season with a right quadriceps injury. But he represents untapped potential.
Though Ennis anticipates starting after a couple good practices, he welcomes competition on a daily basis.
“Without competition and without that aspect of the game, you can lose your focus and not play to your optimal performance,” Ennis said.
Friedgen has also said Egekeze has a stronger leg and gets more height on kicks. Egekeze’s leg strength is evident as he has averaged 63.1 yards per kickoff and compiled four touchbacks so far this season.
Friedgen called Egekeze’s “outstanding” kickoffs the positive element on special teams. In terms of net yardage, the sophomore has accumulated a 43.4-yard average and opponents’ drives after kickoffs have, on average, started at the 21-yard line. Even with two games as kickoff specialist under his belt, Egekeze still hasn’t attempted a field goal in a regular season game.
Every day in practice, Ennis and Egekeze alternate field goal attempts, and Friedgen sees gradual improvement from Egekeze.
“The thing I like with Obi kicking the way he is, you can see his confidence growing with every kick,” Friedgen said.
During fall camp, Ennis and Egekeze seemed to improve their play when Friedgen ratcheted up the pressure – yelling at them to get inside their heads. If Ennis doesn’t execute and Egekeze gets into the game against the Mountaineers, he’s now prepared to deal with the crowd.
“I wont be thinking about Friedgen. … But there’s no pressure like Friedgen’s pressure,” Egekeze said. “It’s just a couple more thousand people. You try not to think of it as a pressure situation.”
While not happy about Ennis’ overall performance against the Blue Raiders, Friedgen admitted his team has bigger worries.
“I am a perfectionist, but I understand you don’t make every field goal you kick,” Friedgen said. “We gotta start scoring touchdowns, too.”
Shaky Dan
Dan Ennis missed eight of his final 14 FG attempts last year. Here is a look at his 2006 breakdown.
GameYards outResult
William & Mary39GOOD
William & Mary25GOOD
Middle Tennessee37GOOD
Middle Tennessee31WIDE LEFT
Middle Tennessee43WIDE LEFT
Contact reporter Stephen Whyno at whynodbk@gmail.com.