The Blue Devils are employing some new technology and some old-fashioned competition to improve their woeful kicking game.
The kicking struggles were apparent Saturday, when Joe Surgan missed a 31-yard field goal that would have put Duke up 17-16 with less than three minutes remaining in the third quarter against Alabama. The miss-which head coach Ted Roof called "the biggest play from a momentum standpoint"-dropped Surgan to 2-for-7 in field-goal attempts this season.
Roof announced Monday that senior Randy DeSmyter, who started at punter last Saturday, would compete with Surgan for the starting placekicker job.
Surgan was quick to acknowledge his struggles this year but said the announcement would not change his preparation for Saturday's game against Florida State.
"It's college football-there's always someone there to take your spot," Surgan said. "Competition is good for everyone. Just because it was announced this week that Randy is going to be competing with me doesn't mean that he's not always breathing down my back. I know that if I screw up enough he's going to have his opportunity too."
Both DeSmyter and Surgan said the open competition for the starting job has not affected the camaraderie of the special teams unit. DeSmyter, who averaged less than 30 yards in his four punts Saturday, is still competing with junior Alex Feinberg for the starting punter job, which Feinberg held for the first four games of the season.
Roof also announced Monday that he was planning on redshirting true-freshman punter Kevin Jones, who was ranked as the fourth-best punter recruit in the country by scout.com.
"We do a pretty good job of-even though we are competing with each other-helping each other out," DeSmyter said. "It is tough sometimes because you want to see your friends do well, but at the same time you want to go over there and compete and try to do better than them."
The kickers also looked to improve by using a video camera to film their field-goal attempts in practice Tuesday. DeSmyter said the kickers had used the technique sporadically in the past but hoped to fix any mechanical mistakes through watching the tape.
"It's not always easy to tell what you're doing wrong, so if you can see it on film and go, 'Oh, I'm lifting my head here,' or 'I'm not following through there,' it will help you be more consistent," DeSmyter said.
One reason for the inconsistency of the kicking game has been the irregularity of field-goal opportunities. After his potential game-winning kick was blocked against Wake Forest, Surgan did not attempt a field goal or extra point in the next two games against Virginia Tech and Virginia. His third-quarter miss against Alabama came 28 days since his last competitive field-goal attempt.
"Does it make a difference to have not kicked in three or four weeks? Yes, it does," Surgan said. "But we do enough work in practice that you have to be ready in those situations, especially those that can make or break a game."
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