Bearcat kicker to pose challenge
By Paul Trembacki
Sports
Editor
All Purdue coach Joe Tiller can say is that he
hopes there is a stiff wind in the face of Cincinnati's kicker every
time he attempts a kick.
That's because Jonathan Ruffin is as close to automatic
as any kicker in the country.
A consensus All-America selection and the recipient
of the 2000 Lou Groza Award as the nation's best kicker, Ruffin made
26 of 29 field goals last season, including the game-winners in Cincinnai's
wins over Memphis and Southern Miss. He also made 26 of 27 extra point
attempts for a season total of 104 points.
The junior wears a converted jazz dance slipper
on his kicking foot. The odd strategy has helped him ascend to No. 3
on the Bearcats' all-time list for career field goals with 31.
"Once (the Bearcats) cross midfield, there's a
pretty good chance they're going to get on the board unless they just
get to the 49 or something," Tiller said. "I don't know if there's much
you can do about that other than play hard and hope they can't get across
midfield."
Accuracy is Ruffin's strength, but distance is
not. He has never attempted a field goal longer than 42 yards. In fact,
last season when Cincinnati needed a 47-yarder to beat Syracuse, coach
Rick Minter called upon Jason Mammarelli to make the game-winning boot
as time expired.
Still, Ruffin, the preseason special teams player
of the year in Conference USA, is highly respected.
"He's a heck of a kicker and I don't think there's
much you can do to neutralize or nullify a good kicker other than to
just hope he has a bad outing that day," Tiller said.
Purdue will try to keep Cincinnati out of field
goal range Sunday when the Boilers and Bearcats meet at 1:30 EST in
Cincinnati. The game will be shown on espn2. The game, which will take
place in Cincinnati's 35,000-seat Nippert Stadium, has been sold out
for several days now — the first time that's happened at Cincinnati
since the stadiums renovations to expand seating finished in 1992.
Purdue has been working on getting its special
teams plays flowing smoothly, taking only a little time to design kick-blocking
plays.
"We haven't seen anything on Cincinnati's part
to suggest that they are vulnerable to blocks," Tiller said. "We're
making an assumption they're not vulnerable."
Purdue kicker Travis Dorsch is on the watch list
for the Lou Groza Award this year. The senior kicker anticipates a duel
between him and Ruffin.
"As a competitor, you always want to play the best,"
Dorsch said. "And last year he was the best."
Last year Dorsch, Purdue's career leader in field
goals and points, scored 81 points, making 12 of 17 field goals and
45 of 47 extra point attempts.
"(Ruffin) went out and had a great sophomore season
and I'm anxious to get down there and see how I stack up against him,"
Dorsch said. "He had some great stats and had a great year last year,
and we're gonna go at it. That's just part of competition."
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