Notre Dame K Justin Yoon Nails 62 Yard Field Goal in Practice
We may be a day late on this because of a quick work trip over the Atlantic that stole away some free time this week, but we still had to post this. Notre Dame’s senior kicker Justin Yoon appears to have added some range this off-season. A lot of range. Yoon nailed a 62 yard field goal in practice this week. With room to spare.
? @jkicker19 making 62-yard field goals look easy!#GoIrish ☘️ #IrishWearGreen pic.twitter.com/7JbVFQUa1J
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) August 24, 2018
First off, let’s start with the kick itself. Aside from being a freaking 62 yard field goal, the kick itself was beautiful. Yoon blasts the ball off his foot and gets it pretty high, pretty quick. It wasn’t just a line drive kick that could easily be blocked. He didn’t just sneak this one inside the upright either. It had a little room to spare.
The only thing I question is why the heck the rest of the team didn’t freak out more. Has Yoon been nailing this all summer so they are used to it by now? If not, I would have expected there to be more of a scene around Yoon. Hitting a 62 yard field, even in practice, is not easy or common.
If this is any indication of what kind of range Justin Yoon has this year, he will be a weapon for the Irish in more ways than one. Yoon was 14-18 on field goals last year but just 5-9 on kicks over 40 yards including missing his only attempt over 50 yards. If Yoon’s range has expanded and the Irish staff can call on him from longer distances this year, not only does it increase Notre Dame’s chances of scoring points, it will allow Chip Long to be more aggressive when in field goal range on third downs if he knows that Yoon is going to come in and be reliable from longer distances this year.
Career to date, Yoon has only attempted two kicks of 50 yards or more in his career at Notre Dame. He nailed a 52 yarder as a freshman against Navy but has not made another 50 yarder since then. He attempted against Wake Forest last fall but was unsuccessful.
With 275 points through his first three seasons at Notre Dame, he sits just 45 points behind Vegas Ferguson for the career scoring record at Notre Dame so in all likelihood Yoon should become the record holder in October. If he can also become more of a weapon for Notre Dame this fall though, he could be one of the differences between Notre Dame making the playoffs or missing out yet again this year.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
Special teams in the ND Michigan Renewal?
Chuck Male and Crable’s block in ’79 in Washtenaw County
Harry Oliver and the Magic kick in ’80
1988? Ho, Ho Ho Ho and Watters punt return, All scoring SPECIAL
1989. though ND’s opening drive featuring John Adams stud Anthony Johnson was epic, It was two
jaunts to glory by Raghib………………….
All the pregame focus will be on O versus D, either way, but Saturday night just might, again, be SPECIAL.
Ha! Where’s Allen Iverson…!?
ND’s ‘Red Zone’ impotency solved….look out, Alabama.
Red Zone impotency, David? We led most of the country in red zone scoring efficiency last year – JACKASS!
Does anyone have our final RZ stats for touchdowns? Does anyone have our overall RZ scoring stat for last year?
David needs something to jar his memory.
BGC
2017 season, ND was ranked 57th in FBS red zone scoring, per TeamRankings.com
Try again, loser.
I remember John Carney kicking long field goal in driving rain in Coliseum. I think He had gps on that boot. I love how Justin gives thanks and praise after His successful field goal. It’s all about the Trinity; kicker, holder, snapper.
I remember Lou’s first game here (’86) against Harbough and Michigan. JC (one of our best kickers ever) missed a fairly easyone at the end…in a game that I think we kicked off to start both halves due to a coin flip screw up! We lost.
I also remember Michigan’s Gillette missing a field goal at the end of the ’88 game against Michigan. We won!
Yes, Special Teams can be huge, especially in this series.