Playing Psychologist Doesn't Win Games

Thanks to JCole for the inspiration for this entry


Blair Walsh had put together a stellar career entering his senior season at the University of Georgia. The kicker was on pace to set the school and SEC scoring records and become a high (for a kicker) draft pick in the upcoming NFL draft.

Then his senior season started and he was not very good. Walsh missed kick after kick this year, to the point that head coach Mark Richt actually let Brandon Bogotay kick a few field goals and extra points late in the season. Against Florida, Richt twice went for 4th-and-long situations because of Walsh’s struggles, err I mean because the team needed seven, not three.

Walsh ended up breaking former Georgia kicker Billy Bennett’s career SEC scoring record with 412 points, but his struggles on the year (21-of-35 on field goals) left many Georgia fans cringing and clinching whenever he trotted onto the field on fourth down.

Richt tried to play psychologist all season when he continued to send Walsh out there, trying to get his senior kicker through the rough patch by having him simply kick through it. That didn’t seem to work. After the Georgia defense came up with a big stop in the first overtime session, Richt was playing psychologist again, running for a minimal no-risk gain on first down and squaring the ball up for a 42-yard attempt on second down. He wanted to send Walsh out a “hero,” as though none of the Bulldog Nation would remember his year-long struggles if he made that kick.

Of course it missed, and after squeaking the second attempt in in overtime No. 2, he was called on to extend the game in overtime session No. 3 from 47 yards out. I know the popular sentiment is that kickers have just one job: kick it through the uprights, but I don’t really blame Walsh for missing in overtime No. 1 or having his last attempt blocked. Nope. I blame Richt.

Quit playing psychologist and go win the game. Don’t try and redeem your kicker. Ram it down the Spartans’ throats and build up your momentum for 2012. Go to the air to Malcolm Mitchell or Tavarres King for a game-winning touchdown. Win by six.

I am not sure why Richt chose overtime with so much on the line to give Walsh a shot at redemption, but with a stacked team in 2012, let’s hope the psychologist stays at home and the coach with the killer instinct comes to the sidelines.