2014 Boston College Football Special Teams: Stats and Grades

K. Boston College Eagles. KICKERS . F. You cannot have eight missed extra points in a season — a nationally-worst 81.4 percent conversion percentage — and avoid an F. This was a long time coming. <p>It was more than just the horrific extra-point kicking, however. The field goal kicking was sub-standard (specific stats featured below), and to be honest, the coaches are responsible for a sizable chunk of this F.</p> <p>When the season began, and almost all the way until the season ended, Boston College football adopted this so-called bright idea to do kickers by committee. Joey Launceford was the inside-30 field goal kicker and Alex Howell, also the punter, was the long field goal kicker. Then Howell started kicking extra points, and then Mike Knoll started kicking extra points while also being avoided for longer kicks.</p> <p>What we got out of it was a great deal of confusion. The team did not commit to any one kicker right out of the gate, and ultimately they all ended up having shaky years. The players themselves must obviously bear the majority of responsibility there, but instead of giving one guy the clear and decisive vote of confidence from the beginning, they rotated around three different kickers and none got into a rhythm.</p> <p>Back to the frequent extra point misses: Were the kickers head-cases? Was it fear, mental block, bad form — any of that? I am not capable of diagnosing any potential psychological causes, but what we do know is the whole unit was a remarkable failure this season and something significant has to change before the 2015 season.</p>