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Sunday, November 3, 2013

Rutgers' revolving door at kicker continues entering bye week



By Tyler Barto
Twitter: @Tyler_Barto
tbarto@trentonian.com

Head coach Kyle Flood said Sunday he isn't ready to name his starting kicker for Rutgers' next game Nov. 16 against Cincinnati, muddying an already unclear position.


Kyle Federico went 1-for-2 on field goal attempts Saturday in a 23-20 victory against Temple, missing a 40-yard effort on the final play of the first half. He also missed a PAT.

"To hit 50 percent of our field goals (this season) is not going to be good enough," Flood said. "It's disappointing for sure. They're physical mistakes. It's a a matter of doing all the little things from a technical standpoint that a kicker needs to do to make sure he strikes the ball properly."

The sophomore has made six of 11 attempts this season and has converted only three field goals in his last eight tries. 

Nick Borgese, whom Federico has held off several times this season, has appeared on six PAT attempts. Borgese replaced Federico last season after Federico suffered ultimately a season-ending hip injury against Connecticut with eight games left.

"He just didn't ave his swing today, to use a golfing analogy," Flood said Saturday of Federico.  "And Nick hit the ball pretty well during the week, so he was the guy we were going to go with from that point forward."

MORE: Breaking down Rutgers' fourth-down stop against Temple

Borgese was 5-for-8 last season with a long of 42 yards.

Since Flood arrived at Rutgers in 2006, the team had only used two kickers before Borgese and Federico combined to play the last two seasons.

San San Te, Borgese and Federico's predecessor, was a career 67 percent kicker and missed at least 10 field goals twice in his final three seasons.

"Right now, Kyle and Nick, neither one is hitting the ball as consistently as he needs to hit it," Flood said.

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