Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Tuesday, March 19
The Indiana Daily Student

sports football

After kicking record 58-yard field goal, IU kicker honored

Freshman kicker Griffin Oakes celebrates after kicking a 58-yard field goal against Maryland on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Griffin Oakes struggled to find the right words when describing his IU-record 58-yard field goal Saturday.

As the redshirt freshman kicker watched the ball sail through the uprights, he felt almost numb — a good kind of numb.

His field goal broke a 25-year-old program record, which was previously held by Scott Bonnell when he kicked a 55-yard field goal against Michigan on Oct. 28, 1989.

“I was all smiles,” Oakes said. “It was great. There really are no words to describe it.”

Oakes was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday after making field goals from 38, 48 and a school record 58 yards before missing a 54-yard attempt, which would have been the third longest kick in program history, in IU’s 37-15 loss to Maryland.

Oakes said his 58-yard kick was the longest make in a game in his career, but he said he’s “messed around” from more than 60 yards ?in practice.

With the conference award, Oakes became the first kicker since former IU kicker Mitch Ewald on Oct. 19 to win the award for IU.

“I’m humbled by it,” Oakes said. “It’s a good feeling, but of course I would trade any of the accolades for getting a W out of there, but it’s nice.”

A walk-on from Greenwood, Ind., Oakes started the season second in the depth chart behind redshirt freshman Aaron Del Grosso, who won the starting job in fall camp.

But the combination of Del Grosso’s inconsistency — he’s 1-for-4 on field goals this year — and a minor groin injury prompted Wilson to begin using Oakes in the second half against Missouri before starting him against Maryland.

IU Coach Kevin Wilson said Del Grosso has been more consistent in practice and that he welcomes the competition.

“Those guys will keep pushing themselves, and as we move forward they’ll do fine,” Wilson said. “Those guys were the two best kids in our state a couple of years ago, so they’ll do fine.”

Despite the kicking rotation, Oakes said there’s no tension between the kickers. He said both are good friends and are willing to make any kick they’re asked to make.

He said he’s not as concerned with who’s out there kicking this week. He’s just trying to prepare to make whatever his next kick winds up being.

“It’s a good feeling, but again, I’ve got to come out and do it again next week,” Oakes said. “One week doesn’t prove anything.”

Spriggs is “day-to-day”

Wilson said that junior offensive tackle Jason Spriggs is being listed “day-to-day” after spraining his knee against Maryland on Saturday.

Spriggs was tangled up in a play and fell to the ground in the fourth quarter, where he was down for a few minutes.

After limping off the field, Wilson said Spriggs was cleared to play by medical staff, but it was decided the risk of injury wasn’t worth sending him back out.

Wilson said he wasn’t sure whether Spriggs would be available for Saturday’s game against North Texas.

“I guess it will be a day-to-day deal,” Wilson said. “Today is an off day, and we will see more as the week goes. It’s a wait-and-see deal.”

Wilson also said senior safety Mark Murphy, who missed Saturday’s game with a slight hamstring injury, is also expected to return.

“We’ll get Murph back,” Wilson said.

Wilson still searching ?for consistency

Wilson and his coaching staff won’t make any radical practice changes following IU’s 37-15 loss to Maryland.

Wilson said he still believes in the progress his team has made during practice in the week, but consistency is once again to blame.

He will continue to push his team to take what it does in practice and carry it through to the gamedays.

“We didn’t change our quote ‘practice routine,’ but for whatever reason we were not the same team,” Wilson said.

“I truly believe we’ve been doing a lot of things right in our practice structure. We’re gonna keep doing this.”

Get stories like this in your inbox
Subscribe