Football Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – A year ago, Central Michigan's Marshall Meeder and Luke Elzinga combined to form the Mid-American Conference's best place kicking/punting duo.
Both freshmen earned First Team All-MAC honors. Meeder made all eight of his field goal attempts and Elzinga averaged 43.2 yards per punt, ranking third in the MAC.
Clearly both Michigan natives – Meeder is from Eaton Rapids, Elzinga from Grand Rapids – did exactly what special teams coordinator Keith Murphy prescribed.
"All that I asked them to do, like I do with the young guys this year, is to get comfortable with their surroundings," Murphy said. "I think they trusted their abilities and didn't think too much and did what they're supposed to do as far as the basic fundamentals. They didn't let it get too big for them."
The logical conclusion is that the pair will be even better in 2021 and beyond. Both put the time in in the weight room under the tutelage of director of strength and conditioning Joel Welsh and also worked on flexibility.
A major focus for both is hang time, a critical component for a punter and for a placekicker on kickoffs. Kicking off is a major point of emphasis for the Chippewas heading into 2021 after they ranked last in the MAC a year ago with a 33.8-yard net average per kickoff. They had just three touchbacks, which was the second fewest in the league.
"Obviously we didn't get the progression we wanted to last year," Murphy said. "It was rough on us. I think we'll be able to get the ball deep with good hang time (this year) and we'll see something a lot better."
Franklin Lama, a sophomore, returns as the Chippewas' starting long snapper. In 2020, Lama was named to Phil Steele's All-MAC Third Team.
Meeder twice went 3-for-3 on field goal attempts last season and made both of his attempts from at least 50 yards, including a 53-yarder at Toledo. It was the longest field goal of the season by a MAC kicker and tied for the fourth longest in program history.
Meeder's introduction to football, American style, came by accident or coercion or by order – take your pick – at Eaton Rapids High School.
"Freshman year of high school, I'd already played soccer for seven years at that point," he said. "I'd known the assistant head coach of the football team of my high school and he texted me and said, 'You're kicking this year.' I didn't really have a choice, honestly."
Much to the benefit of CMU today, "I fell in love with it," Meeder said.
One major difference from 2020 to 2021 for both Meeder and Elzinga is crowd noise and atmosphere. CMU's games last season were played in front of very few fans due to COVID; this year, that won't be the case, and with trips to the likes of Missouri and LSU on the docket, both will deal with crowd presence and noise unlike anything they have in the past.
"I can't really think about it that much," Meeder said. "I think I'm pretty good at just zoning out outside things that are going on and just focusing on that one kick. Don't even think about what's going on in the stadium."
Elzinga's first collegiate punt was a dandy. It was a 76-yarder and it came on the first play of the second quarter of the Chippewas' season-opening victory over Ohio.
"After that first punt everything just took off from there," said Elzinga, who admitted to a case of the nerves leading up to that game. "All the nerves went away and all the mechanics just kicked in, all the muscle memory kicked in. and I just went out and played and everything just turned out the way I wanted it to."
Elzinga ranked third in the MAC with a 43.2-yard average; a league-high 14 of his punts were downed inside the opponent 20-yard line; he ranked second in the MAC with six punts of at least 50 yards; and he tied for the league lead with 10 punts that were fair caught.
Both freshmen earned First Team All-MAC honors. Meeder made all eight of his field goal attempts and Elzinga averaged 43.2 yards per punt, ranking third in the MAC.
Clearly both Michigan natives – Meeder is from Eaton Rapids, Elzinga from Grand Rapids – did exactly what special teams coordinator Keith Murphy prescribed.
"All that I asked them to do, like I do with the young guys this year, is to get comfortable with their surroundings," Murphy said. "I think they trusted their abilities and didn't think too much and did what they're supposed to do as far as the basic fundamentals. They didn't let it get too big for them."
The logical conclusion is that the pair will be even better in 2021 and beyond. Both put the time in in the weight room under the tutelage of director of strength and conditioning Joel Welsh and also worked on flexibility.
A major focus for both is hang time, a critical component for a punter and for a placekicker on kickoffs. Kicking off is a major point of emphasis for the Chippewas heading into 2021 after they ranked last in the MAC a year ago with a 33.8-yard net average per kickoff. They had just three touchbacks, which was the second fewest in the league.
"Obviously we didn't get the progression we wanted to last year," Murphy said. "It was rough on us. I think we'll be able to get the ball deep with good hang time (this year) and we'll see something a lot better."
Franklin Lama, a sophomore, returns as the Chippewas' starting long snapper. In 2020, Lama was named to Phil Steele's All-MAC Third Team.
Meeder twice went 3-for-3 on field goal attempts last season and made both of his attempts from at least 50 yards, including a 53-yarder at Toledo. It was the longest field goal of the season by a MAC kicker and tied for the fourth longest in program history.
Meeder's introduction to football, American style, came by accident or coercion or by order – take your pick – at Eaton Rapids High School.
"Freshman year of high school, I'd already played soccer for seven years at that point," he said. "I'd known the assistant head coach of the football team of my high school and he texted me and said, 'You're kicking this year.' I didn't really have a choice, honestly."
Much to the benefit of CMU today, "I fell in love with it," Meeder said.
One major difference from 2020 to 2021 for both Meeder and Elzinga is crowd noise and atmosphere. CMU's games last season were played in front of very few fans due to COVID; this year, that won't be the case, and with trips to the likes of Missouri and LSU on the docket, both will deal with crowd presence and noise unlike anything they have in the past.
"I can't really think about it that much," Meeder said. "I think I'm pretty good at just zoning out outside things that are going on and just focusing on that one kick. Don't even think about what's going on in the stadium."
Elzinga's first collegiate punt was a dandy. It was a 76-yarder and it came on the first play of the second quarter of the Chippewas' season-opening victory over Ohio.
"After that first punt everything just took off from there," said Elzinga, who admitted to a case of the nerves leading up to that game. "All the nerves went away and all the mechanics just kicked in, all the muscle memory kicked in. and I just went out and played and everything just turned out the way I wanted it to."
Elzinga ranked third in the MAC with a 43.2-yard average; a league-high 14 of his punts were downed inside the opponent 20-yard line; he ranked second in the MAC with six punts of at least 50 yards; and he tied for the league lead with 10 punts that were fair caught.
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August 28, 2021 at 01:24AM
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Pair Of All-MAC Performers Headline Special Teams - Central Michigan University Chippewas
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