Brooks: Grossnickle Feeling More Comfortable, Confident

BOULDER - Zach Grossnickle entered his freshman football season at Colorado fairly certain of what he wouldn't do this summer before his redshirt freshman year: Participate in Ultimate Frisbee.

Huh?

Stay with me here.

When the Denver East product reported for camp last August, he wore a cast on his lower left arm and wrist. In May, he'd broken a bone in that area when he leaped for the plastic dish and was undercut by a competitor.

Grossnickle broke his fall with his left hand - and broke something else.

"Freak accident," Grossnickle said, filing it away in the lesson-learned category.

As a placekicker/punter, the injury wasn't much hindrance for the former duty. As for the latter, it definitely was a hindrance; fielding center snaps with one hand/wrist in a cast is a handicap/headache no punter (or special teams coach or head coach) needs.

"I think he could have helped us as a punter, but we were a little leery about whether he could catch the ball," Buffaloes coach Dan Hawkins said.

Added special teams coach Kent Riddle: "I can't say if he'd been used if he wouldn't have had the cast. It definitely hindered his development a little bit; it's hard to catch a snap and hold the ball when you've got a broken bone in your wrist . . . . He really did an awesome job the last month of the season, but it was just hard to justify pulling a redshirt off at that point."

In addition to the wrist cast, Grossnickle also was coping with the usual freshman acclimation issues. Despite his being reared 30 minutes from Boulder, as Riddle pointed out, "Living away from home is living away from home."

Then, there was school, new teammates, new duties, etc. Dealing with those matters, plus not being able to work out regularly, took about 15 pounds from a 6-foot-2 frame that didn't need any unauthorized reduction.

But March 2010 finds 'Z' in better health and in a better state of mind. The cast is gone, the 15 lost pounds (and maybe a few more) are back, and spring drills have begun with him cast as the heir apparent to CU's No. 1 punting job. Plus, he's competing with senior-to-be Aric Goodman and junior transfer Marcus Kirkwood (Concordia) as a placekicker.

CU's winter conditioning regimen helped restore Grossnickle's weight, as did a fairly regular workout routine with his father at a Denver fitness facility. Familiarity with his surroundings and the accompanying maturity are helping, too.

"I feel really comfortable with team and my punting . . . it's a lot easier when I don't have the cast on," he said. "I think I've gotten used to the whole system and the speed that things come . . . I have a confidence there now."

That could be good news for the Buffs, who need to upgrade their punting/placekicking. Matt DiLallo, last season's punter, averaged 38.6 gross and 31.9 net, with both figures last in the Big 12 Conference. CU also was last in field goal percentage (.556, 10-of-18).

To help correct the punting issue, Riddle is emphasizing better hang time this spring.

"When your gross punt (average) is not very good, it's hard for the net punt to be great unless you've got tremendous hang time," he said. "Low, short punts is a bad combination. So we're really emphasizing hang time, hang time, hang time.

"If distance comes with that, that's great. But the reality is, if you had a 36-yard net and it was 36 yards every time with no return, you'd be in the top half of the conference - more like the top third of the conference.

"If it's over 4.2 (seconds) in the air, but only 35-36 yards and they fair catch it, we'll survive that. Do we want 45 yards (per punt)? Yeah, everybody does. But the reality of it is, we'll live for another day.

"If you hit a line drive down there at 41 yards and the (returner) has got 10 yards between you and your nearest cover guy, it doesn't matter what you're doing . . . you're not going to be successful. We had that happen a lot (in 2009). We're really working hard on ball in the air, ball in the air, ball in the air."

Grossnickle and the others have gotten the "hang 'em high" message. But not to be forgotten is the rugby punt, which some teams almost have adopted exclusively. Riddle's view: There's a time and place for it - if you've got a punter who can execute it and you're facing a returner who's best avoided.

Riddle says the Buffs were "decent" at best with the rugby punt last season. But both styles' goal is the same: "Keep the ball in the air (longer) or away from the returner on the ground . . . if you rugby punt, you want the ball on the ground as fast as possible versus in the air as long as possible - unless your guy has the ability to roll out and kick it high and far. But those guys usually stay in Australia."

As a high school senior, Grossnickle averaged 40 yards per punt and had 10 punts of 50-plus yards, giving credence to Hawkins' and Riddle's scouting reports of Grossnickle "having a big leg."

He's not averse to the rugby punt - "We do it every day in practice" - but he'd just as soon hit it high and let the coverage do its job.

"If we're getting great hang time with the normal style of punting, then I don't think we'd go to rugby very much unless there's a very good returner . . . most of the time, I think we'll just want to get the ball to hang up there - that's the goal."

It's one of many - none of which involve a return to Ultimate Frisbee.

BUFF BITS: Justin Drescher held down the long- and short-snapping duties for four years. Now that he's graduated, Riddle is looking at converted defensive tackle Joe Silipo, a 6-2, 250-pound senior, as a possible replacement. Also in the mix is sophomore Mario Conte - but he's not cut from a normal snapper mold. He's a 5-10, 180-pound receiver. Riddle expects a couple of incoming freshmen to possibly assert themselves at the position . . . . The Buffs were in full pads Thursday for the first time this spring. Contact work included goal line drills . . . . Sophomore guard Max Tuioti-Mariner, who sat out last season after a pair of knee injuries, said he "feels like this is the year . . . it's fun (but) there's a lot of competition." Tuioti-Mariner, a 6-2, 305-pounder, is spending most of his time at right guard. When junior Ryan Miller reinjured his surgically repaired right forearm on Day 1, it meant more work for Tuioti-Mariner. "I'm seeing more time there, but the competition is really good - David Clark, Shawn Daniels . . . we've got some really good O-linemen." . . . . CU conducted a high school coaches clinic Thursday and will again on Friday.

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU