The battle of the kickers tees off

IU Athletics Director Fred Glass recently announced fans can keep footballs kicked into the stands on field goal attempts.

But not even IU football coach Bill Lynch knows who will be kicking those field goals.

With less than a week before IU football opens this season, senior Charlie Klingensmith and freshman Nick Freeland are battling for the starting kicker position.
Lynch’s philosophy behind the decision is simple.

“We want guys that will put it through the uprights,” he said after Wednesday’s practice.

Both players are looking to replace graduated kicker Austin Starr, a 2007 finalist for the Lou Groza Award honoring the nation’s best kicker.

Co-special teams coordinator Dennis Springer said Freeland and Klingensmith will not just be duplicating Starr’s role on the team.

“Every kicker is different,” Springer said. “They all have different personalities. It may be a combination of the kids to replace Austin.”

For Klingensmith, competing for the starting job adds to his unique path to the IU football team. A soccer player from Carmel, Ind., he transferred to IU after playing soccer at St. Bonaventure. He joined the IU football team as a walk-on and is currently slated as the backup punter.

“He is a talented guy that has a great attitude about things,” Lynch said at the team’s media day Aug. 18.

Freeland is a redshirt freshman from Indianapolis and was the lead kicker during the spring and summer practices.

He is equally excited for the opportunity to start.

“I’m thrilled. I came here as a walk-on hoping I’d get a chance,” Freeland said. “I feel if I do the best that I can, everything will play itself out.”

Freeland took some tips from Starr on how to handle the pressures of kicking.

“If you miss one, forget about it,” Freeland said about Starr’s main advice.

Springer said there is no rush to name the starter, and the coaching staff continues to evaluate the players at practice. Both kickers struggled to make field goals Wednesday, missing most of their attempts during the team’s practice scrimmage.

“I never get too excited or too worried day-to-day, because everybody is going to have a good day and bad day,” Springer said. “Overall, they’ve been pretty good.”

Lynch is confident the team’s decision for a starting kicker will be made by IU’s Sept. 3 game against Eastern Kentucky.

“They both have had days that they have done pretty well, and they show us they can do a good job for us,” Lynch said.