In light of last weekend's crushing 46-43 loss to Navy, where missed kicks by starter Joe Surgan and backup Greg Meyers accounted for more than Duke's margin of defeat, head coach Ted Roof was reminded all too well of his team's recent history of an inconsistent kicking game.
"If you look over the last few years-the last three years-if we'd have made our chip shots, how many more football games would we have won?" Roof said, "We'd be sitting here with an entirely different perspective."
Looking to avoid a similar outcome in this season's remaining eight games, Roof and the Duke football program took some new steps in their search to find a solution at placekicker.
Monday, the team held an open tryout for students and athletes from other teams interested in the position. Additionally, Tuesday's edition of The Chronicle contained an advertisement stating that the team would hold open tryouts and that "individuals with field goal kicking experience" should apply, with "scholarship potential."
This tryout process seems to have already yielded results. Four kickers were invited back for Tuesday morning's practice, but when asked how the potential walk-ons looked, Roof had one kicker's number in mind.
"Well, we had one kid, No. 96, that did a pretty good job," Roof said. "Probably will have a chance to at least make the trip [to Miami]."
That No. 96 practice jersey was worn by freshman Will Snyderwine, a Duke club rugby player. Snyderwine, who kicked in high school at Landon School in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, said that the practice was much closer to a real game situation than Monday's informal tryout.
"We just went full pads, kicked with them a bit, and we did a few things with the scout team," Snyderwine said. "It was fun."
Despite's Roof's decision to bring in walk-on help, there are still a number of in-house options that he would like to explore.
Freshman punter Nick Maggio, who has experience at placekicker from his high school days, saw some reps in Tuesday's practice. The native of Leawood, Kan. hit 64-of-68 PAT attempts in his senior season and holds his school's field goal distance record with a 49-yarder.
"He came out and hit it really good this morning," Roof said of Maggio. "He came to me yesterday and said, 'I can make those things, give me a chance.' So we did this morning, and he did [make them]."
Roof said that by examining all of his options, he hopes to either push someone already on the roster to improve or unearth a diamond in the rough that can hit the chip shot field goals that Duke so desperately needs to win.
And with three days of practice before his team hits the field at the Orange Bowl, Roof will wait as long as he can to make a decision on who his gameday starter will be.
"Watch the pregame warmups, especially if that new kid does it," Roof said. "See how he does in warmups. That'd be an interesting story, huh?"
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