Word: macmurray
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...played football here for four years, moving through the freshman and J.V. teams. In 1976 and 1977 he paid dues on the varsity special teams, covering punts and kickoffs. But at last, this season, he has arrived at true varsity status as the starting punter. It is, for MacMurray, the big time...
When the season got underway, MacMurray was ready for his job, but not quite confident of his abilities. "That first game I was shaking in my boots, and the second game wasn't much better," he recalls. His statistics, however, with the help of some long rolls, don't reflect there was ever any lack of confidence...
...Columbia game he lucked out with a 67-yard grounder. Six kicks for a 36.2-yard average on the day -- not a bad start. But MacMurray doesn't deal in averages. He says he remembers that the kicks were low, and two were especially wobbly, mediocre punts...
Against UMass, MacMurray again got a break. The Minutemen sent only one man deep, and No. 98 punted low shots into the wind which rolled away from the lone back. There were no returns, a couple of long rolls and a 35.5-yard average that day for Harvard's punter. Low-trajectory kicks again carried him to a 33.2-yard average in the Colgate game...
Hang time -- it's the key to the punting game, and both Restic and MacMurray know there's too little of it right now. "We lack a punting coach, per se," MacMurray says, explaining he works out alone, trying to improve his drop, heighten his extension and lengthen his hang time. But such an improvement takes time and concentration; and for MacMurray, that means solitude...