Matt Gay and his journey to starting FG kicker at Utah

[Woody3715]

Gay said, two weeks ago, that the BYU coaches told him that the “timing wasn’t right”.

I don’t know if that means that because he was a senior they didn’t want to waste a scholarship on a one- year player. Or it meant that they had their kicker(s) in place and they werent going to add another. Or a combination of both those scenarios.

This is reminiscent of the Andy Phillips story. He sent BYU staff a tape. They basically brushed him off. He sent the tape to Utah. They looked at it, gave him some tips and advice, told him to practice more and contact them in the spring. We know the rest.
[/quote]

BYU coaches evaluated Gay as lacking talent and failed to try to teach him. Utah coaches evidently evaluated Gay as having potential and taught him how to be a better kicker. Evaluation and teaching are the two basic things coaches do. In other words, bad coaching on one hand vs. good coaching on the other.

[BroncoBot]

(including bringing down Trinneman on the KO return).

I could be wrong, and I'm not interested enough to look it up but...

I'm pretty sure it wasn't Gay that tripped trinneman

[UtahSportsPage]

It was actually Wishnowsky, the Utah punter, that brought down Trinnaman on the kick return. He's handling both punts and kickoffs this year.

[frdbtr]

When the Announcers said who had brought him down, they said it was Gay and commented that along with his FG's he saved a TD. I guess I assumed they were right, which is usually a mistake.

[BroncoBot]

When the Announcers said who had brought him down, they said it was Gay and commented that along with his FG's he saved a TD. I guess I assumed they were right, which is usually a mistake.

You know what they say about those who make assumptions...

[frdbtr]

When the Announcers said who had brought him down, they said it was Gay and commented that along with his FG's he saved a TD. I guess I assumed they were right, which is usually a mistake.

You know what they say about those who make assumptions...

No kidding.

[Mars]

When the Announcers said who had brought him down, they said it was Gay and commented tdhat along with his FG's he saved a TD. I guess I assumed they were right, which is usually a mistake.

I had remembered them crediting Gay with the tackle. They should have just said "the kicker".

[snoscythe]

FWIW on the "timing wasn't right" thing, we have Almond through next season:

He's not exactly chopped liver, and it's not like Gay was an All-American when he was trying out for the team. The coaches would have had to cut someone else on the team loose to open up a scholarship for Gay when our kicker position was pretty solid already, especially with Oldroyd coming back as soon as Almond graduates.

[hawkwing]

I saw those tweets early, and I have to admit, I was shocked that Almond was as good as 78% on FGs. He seems much worse, but then I realized the Cougars almost never go for it when it's beyond 30-35 yards with Almond as the kicker. (Now I should look up the stats and actually see if my thoughts are correct, or if I'm being unfair and wrong).

[frdbtr]

I don't think he has attempted anything much more than 40 yards in his career. He missed at least 1 FG inside 30 yards in the utah game if I remember right.