Don’t ‘Ray Finkle’ Texas Tech Kicker After Missed Extra Point at Oklahoma State Game

Texas Tech staged a heck of a comeback this past weekend, but came up a little short. Evidently, the ball was bobbled a bit and/or placed, then replaced and the kick went wide.

Any time a kick goes bad, myself and many others are reminded of the movie Ace Ventura Pet Detective. In the movie, Dan Marino holds the ball wrong, causing kicker Ray Finkle to go wide and lose the big game. Finkle then loses his mind, and masquerades as a woman to get his revenge with the mantra" "Laces out, Dan!"

The fact everyone needs to remember is that kicking a ball is part of a process. The center has to snap it right, the lineman on either side need to try to make sure he's not hit, the other lineup have to watch for the rush, the holder has to get the ball placed correctly, the kicker has to hit the ball just right and so on. The point is, the kicker didn't fail; the team did.

There's no column for "losses by bad kick," but that doesn't give you an excuse or change your record. The best way to prevent against bad kicks is to not get into a situation where you have to nail a kick to win the game.

Texas Tech still has a couple of games to play this year and a lot to prove. Let's hope THE WHOLE TEAM can get it done.