Gophers hopeful competition brings success to kicking game

A regular on the playlist for the Gophers football team's high-tempo practices is "Under Pressure'' by Queen and David Bowie. Coach P.J. Fleck makes sure that song is setting the tone when it's time to bring on the place-kicking unit.

On Saturday in the team's first practice that was open to the media, Matthew Trickett, a transfer from Kent State, and Brock Walker, a redshirt junior holdover, took turns kicking. Fleck is rotating his four kickers by two groups, and transfer Will Mobley from Temple and sophomore Dragan Kesich were slated to take kicks the next practice.

"Next week should be a healthy dose of kicking competition,'' Fleck said Saturday.

The next look at the kicking competition — and battles for positions throughout the team — comes 7 p.m. Thursday at Huntington Bank Stadium with a practice that will be open to the public. Fleck and special teams coordinator Rob Wenger are looking for consistency and distance from a position that hasn't had it the past two seasons.

During the 2016 through 2018 seasons, the Gophers kicking game was in the trusty right leg of Emmitt Carpenter, who made a school-record 79.1% of his career field-goal attempts, hit four of six kicks from 50 yards or longer and missed only one of 118 extra-point tries.

Since then, however, the Gophers made 11 of 15 field-goal attempts in 2019 and went 4-for-6 in seven games last year (a combined 71.4%). During the past two seasons, their longest field goal has been 40 yards. And last year as the kicking group dealt with absences because of COVID-19 and injuries, a failed extra-point attempt in overtime and a missed 36-yarder in OT doomed the Gophers in losses to Maryland and Wisconsin. A potential 5-2 record became 3-4.

Fleck made changes, bringing in Trickett and Mobley to compete with holdovers Walker and Kesich. Michael Lantz and Anders Gelecinskyj are no longer with the program.

Trickett brings the best résumé, having made 47 of 57 field-goal attempts (82.5%) in three years at Kent State. In 2019 he made 29 of 34 attempts, tying for the most field goals in the nation, on his way to earning Mid-American Conference special teams player of the year honors. Though he has yet to hit from 50 or longer, he is 11-for-16 from 40-49 yards.

"It's everything I dreamed about as a kid, being able to play at the highest level,'' said Trickett, a Cleveland St. Ignatius graduate. "I can't wait for the opportunities.''

He'll have to earn those opportunities, of course, and Walker and Mobley would appear to be his main competition. Near the end of Saturday's practice with "Under Pressure'' playing, Walker was 2-for-3 from roughly 45 yards while Trickett was 1-for-3.

Walker is 5-for-7 on field-goal attempts in his Gophers career, including 2-for-3 last year, with a long of 29 yards. He is 18-for-21 on extra-point attempts, with a missed PAT in overtime ending the Gophers' 45-44 loss at Maryland last year. Gelecinskyj had the missed OT kick in the 20-17 loss at Wisconsin.

Mobley played three years at Temple, connecting on 26 for 35 field-goal attempts and 99 of 104 PATs. He's 4-for-6 from 40 yards or longer.

As a freshman last year, Kesich was the Gophers' kickoff specialist, with 10 touchbacks in his 24 kicks. He did not attempt a field goal or an extra point.

Trickett, who has two years of eligibility remaining, seeks to bring the consistency that Wenger wants.

"He went over everything that has happened the past year — with COVID, kickers being out and people missing,'' Trickett said. "Just a whole bunch of problems they were having being consistent and being able to trust one person. I felt like I was able to come in here and fill that role because I've had experience.''

Trickett aims to impart that experience into the kicking unit, hopeful that he can help solve a problem.

"I'm trying to get everyone's mentality changed because that's a huge part of kicking,'' he said. "It's not so much physical because many guys can kick at this level. It's more of, 'Who has it between the ears?' If we can get that together, we'll be a very good unit.''