UC Kickers Miliano, Gantz Will Go Head To Head This Season

Despite several practices throughout the spring and summer, Cincinnati’s coaching staff can’t yet decide on a starting kicker between senior Tony Miliano and redshirt freshman Andrew Gantz. As a result, the pair will continue to battle it out throughout the Bearcats’ 2014 football season.

If you recall (how could you forget?), Miliano was putrid last year. He shanked 10 of his 17 field goal attempts, was next to last in the country in field goal percentage, and overall it looked like the position was completely foreign to him despite being a fairly experienced junior. There was simply this aura of uncomfortably with Miliano that everyone within a 300-mile radius could see.

But all that changed this offseason, with the now-senior kicker apparently doing away with his demons and righting the ship. The problem, if you want to call it that, is Andrew Gantz was matching him kick for kick. So what’s a head coach to do?

Well Tuberville is evidently going with the “cream rises to the top” approach. Miliano and Gantz will go head to head into this season. They’ll keep battling at practice and on game days could very well split reps on field goals and extra points. Tuberville might use one more than the other depending on who performs better in the days leading up to the game.

We’ll see how this works out but I can’t envision it doing more harm than good. Kickers aren’t like quarterbacks who need continuous reps to get a feel for the flow of the game. Kickers come in for ten plays, maybe, and those times are sporadic and unpredictable at best. Overall, this decision should only improve Cincinnati’s performance at this position in 2014. It couldn’t be any worse than last season, that’s for sure.