• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

K Mike Nugent (All American, Lou Groza Winner, National Champion)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
Nugent starts over
By Paul Dehner Jr., CNATI.com
Posted May 26, 2010

2-3-thumb-300xauto-2449.jpg

Bengals kicker Mike Nugent. Photo by Chris Bergman

As the Bengals-Jets playoff game took place at Paul Brown Stadium, not far up I-71, Mike Nugent sat in front of his television and watched. He witnessed the temporary unraveling of Shayne Graham's career in Cincinnati when two field goals under 40 yards sailed wide.

In the matter of a few swift leg swings, Graham's stability within the organization shifted from solid to so long.

Nugent couldn't help but feel for him.

"You really do, because Shayne has done such a nice job in this organization," the 2004 Ohio State Buckeyes MVP said. "When you see things like that, he is one of those guys you see on film and he has created high expectations for himself. It was just one of those things. It's one of those things you never wish bad on anybody even if you were someone like me sitting watching games."

The fact Nugent spent the majority of 2009 watching football from his living room was part of the reason watching Graham's playoff failure resonates. Nugent can commiserate.

In his first three seasons with the New York Jets he was 58 of 65 from inside 40 yards - good for 89 percent. As a comparison, for his career, Graham, one of the most accurate active kickers in the league, was 134 of 146 from inside 40 - good for 92 percent.

Considering Nugent was the No. 47 overall pick of the Jets, he held a tight grasp on kicker of the future.

Then one game into the 2008 campaign, a quad injury forced him out of the lineup in Week 1. When Jay Feely was signed and thrived, Nugent never rejoined the team.

A year later, he beat out Matt Bryant for the starting job in Tampa Bay, only to miss two of his first six field goal attempts and be cut after four games.

Now standing in the Bengals locker room following Tuesday's OTA, Nugent found the ideal situation to resurrect his career. Some of his greatest moments came down the road at Ohio State and Nugent grew up a Bengals season ticket holder in Columbus.

"It is kind of a cool experience always watching from the stands and now hopefully in the future here, get on the field," Nugent said.
Click to expand...

Nugent starts over | Cincinnati Sports News
 
Upvote 0
Pelfrey grew up here (Scott High School in Northern Kentucky) and went to college at Kentucky, so he?s intrigued by Ohio State?s Nugent.

?Nugent was just incredible coming out of college,? Pelfrey said. ?He needed to come here. I don?t know who is going to make the team. I don?t know if it is Nugent, Rayner, or a free agent, but this should be an ideal place for Nugent. Either here or Cleveland because it brings him back to a setting where he had so much success. People will love him before he even kicks a ball. And for Rayner, he?s getting another shot.?
Click to expand...

NFL beat bounces on
 
Upvote 0
Dave Rayner, Mike Nugent renew kicking rivalry with Bengals
By Joe Reedy ? [email protected] ? June 5, 2010

When looking at the kicking battle for the Bengals, it's one of those Back to the Future scenarios.

"The whole thing reminds me of when Shayne (Graham) came here in 2003. We've got guys hungry to compete and get something to call it their own," special teams coach Darrin Simmons said.

Graham's seven-year tenure officially ended on Thursday when he signed a one-year contract with the Ravens. The Bengals have a rare kicking battle as Dave Rayner and Mike Nugent vie for the spot.

Rayner returned to practice last week after missing most of the on-field coaching sessions due to a hip flexor. This is his second stint with the Bengals; he was here for two games in 2008 after Graham suffered a groin injury. This is Rayner's eighth team. On field goals he is 42 of 59 for his career.

"It's all about the right situation and getting an opportunity," Rayner said. "Very few guys go to their first place and do well. Everybody has a spot and hopefully this is mine."

Before Graham was with the Bengals, he had unsuccessful runs in Carolina and Buffalo.

Said Simmons of Rayner: "Before he got injured I was pleased with what he was doing. He's trying to change some things and improve."

Nugent was drafted by the Jets in '05 and made 75 of 91 field goals in his first three seasons. But in the 2008 opener he injured his quad. Jay Feely was signed, got hot and Nugent was without a job.

He beat out Matt Bryant in Buccaneers camp last year, but a 2-of-6 start caused him to be released after four games. Nugent was with Arizona for two games when Neil Rackers was injured and made his only two tries.

Nugent's signing the week of the draft was the final indication that whatever hope the Bengals had of Graham agreeing to a long-term deal were done.

"We're not reinventing the wheel, just polishing," Nugent said. "Frankly, things weren't going the way I expected them the last couple years. As long as we get all the work done now, we should be ready for training camp."

Said Simmons of Nugent: "He was an explosive kicker coming out of college. He's trying to get back to the point where he was before the injury."

Nugent and Rayner are friends off the field but have been longtime rivals on it - Nugent was at Ohio State and Rayner at Michigan State.
Click to expand...

Dave Rayner, Mike Nugent renew kicking rivalry with Bengals | cincinnati.com | Cincinnati.Com
 
Upvote 0
Nugent has to be the favorite for the job. He went 80+% with the Jets where half of his games were in a notoriously poor kicking environment. There is no reason he shouldn't be a NFL kicker. That bad start with Tampa really hurt him. Hopefully he gets a fair shake and sticks here. It would be nice to be able to root for him again.
 
Upvote 0
Mike Nugent vs. Dave Rayner
Posted by cludwig June 17th, 2010

The words on the wall in Paul Brown Stadium?s weight room say it all:

As steel sharpens steel, so one man sharpens another

Dave Rayner sharpens Mike Nugent.

And ?

Mike Nugent sharpens Dave Rayner.

Dave Rayner

Position battles are everywhere on the Cincinnati Bengals? roster and among them is the struggle for the legal tender at kicker.

The two Big Ten studs ? Rayner (Michigan State) and Nugent (Ohio State) ? are in a heated, toe-to-toe, heel-to-heel, foot-to-foot competition for the right to supplant Shayne Graham, who spurned the Bengals? contract overtures and signed with Baltimore.

It won?t be easy to bury Graham?s memory, but the former Spartan and former Buckeye are trying.

I distinctly remember former head coach Bruce Coslet telling the media years ago that kickers ?need to get kicked around? the league before they settle in and find a home.

Rayner and Nugent have been kicked around like soccer balls in South Africa these days.
Click to expand...

Here?s what it?ll come down to in The Nati: The kicker?s total body of work. Not just field-goal accuracy, but the height, depth and direction of kickoffs. In other words, consistency.

?It?s going to be everything,? Nugent said. ?The team doesn?t want a guy who can just kick field goals or just kickoff. You have to put everything together.

?You see how different teams do it. You just have to keep the ball straight, do your job and control the things you can control.?

The kicking competition is a close race, razor sharp and heated, that will likely last all of training camp and the preseason. It will sort itself out.
Click to expand...

Cincinnati.Com | Cincinnati Enquirer | Chick Ludwig ? Mike Nugent vs. Dave Rayner
 
Upvote 0
Key Camp Battle: Kicker: Dave Rayner vs. Mike Nugent

Longtime Bengals placekicker Shayne Graham is in Baltimore this season, leaving a hole in Cincy. Nugent, an Ohio State grad, is a six-year vet with career stops in New York, Tampa Bay and Arizona. Rayner?s also a six-year vet whose football passport is filled with stamps from Green Bay, Kansas City, San Diego, Miami, Detroit, Cincy and Washington. May the best journeyman win.

Early Edge: Mike Nugent
Click to expand...

NFL Pre-Camp Previews: AFC North - NFL News - FOX Sports on MSN
 
Upvote 0
Airspace;131844; said:
Martinss01 my favorite Nugent kick was against Marshall. You should let your manager see that one.

Mike Nugent kicked a 55-yard field goal as time expired to give Ohio State
a 24-21 victory over Marshall with time expiring.

A player with ice in his veins that kicks a winning field gold as time expires from a distance of 55 yards is money in the bank. What would Jets fans give for that. Let her known that and she will just crap. Follow the link.

Nugent boots Ohio State past upset-minded Marshall - NCAA Football - CBSSports.com
Click to expand...

Seems like only yesterday.....

img7671217.jpg

Mike Nugent boots the game-winning kick 55 yards over the defense and through the uprights.(AP)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgU6u07PHVg"]YouTube - Ohio State Vs Marshall 2004[/ame]

Youtube: From 55, from Centerville Ohio, Mike Nugent, the senoir, the Captain, to get the Buckeyes out of here with a win...Snap...Hold...On the way...All right...Good...The Buckeyes win...Mike Nugent is the hero.
 
Upvote 0
The stage has been set for the first Georgetown kicking derby since the media spent the first couple of weeks squinting at the goal posts trying to decide the good and bad kicks when ever veteran Doug Pelfrey lined up against rookie Neil Rackers in 2000:

With Shayne Graham, the franchise?s most accurate kicker of all time, thinking about the Bengals? home opener as the Ravens? potential new man, this job is left to local favorite Mike Nugent of Ohio State and Dave Rayner, the only man besides Graham and The Ocho that has kicked a point for them with Lewis as coach.

With the roster one player over at 81, Lewis has said he wants to take both kickers to camp. At the mandatory minicamp, they missed only one field goal during 24 kicks during team and that was a 50-yard plus by Rayner.

?Dave was injured (hip flexor) much of the spring and didn?t get a real opportunity until at the end, so we?d like to go through game situations,? says Lewis, explaining how special teams coach Darrin Simmons has brought both along. ?Darrin has done a great job with both of them. You?ve seen so much improvement with Mike from the time he signed (draft weekend) and he?s been working with Dave since February? We?ve got to look for the same things and we?ll play it out and see what happens. Both have the abilities much like when we brought Shayne in here. We?re having a whole (off) season to work with them and that?s a good thing.?
Click to expand...

Great Expectations
 
Upvote 0
ROUND 2: Darrin Simmons has not been happy with the performance of either Dave Rayner or Mike Nugent in the kicking competition.

Each player was 2-for-3 on field goal attempts Saturday. Rayner made his from 26 and 32 yards but was wide right from 30. Nugent connected from 39 and 44 yards but was wide right from 36.

"If you go based off today, they both missed. They're both equally as bad at 66 percent," Simmons said. "That's good for about 32nd in the league.

On Thursday Nugent 7-for-8 and Rayner was 4-of-8. Simmons said there's no front-runner.

"The competition is still on," Simmons said. "... I need both of them to pick it up, and neither felt right from the get-go."
Click to expand...

Fullbacks show off improved blocking | cincinnati.com | Cincinnati.Com
 
Upvote 0
latest on the kicking competion from Marvin's press conference this afternoon:


Q: What is your opinion of the kicking competition so far?
ML: ?Dave Rayner had a good day today and kicked well.?
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top