JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez still doesn’t know who his starting kicker is. He let out a nervous chuckle when asked about the situation before practice on Wednesday — neither Seth Broekhuizen or Brendon Gibbons have separated themselves with the Gator Bowl three days away.

“I probably couldn’t tell you,” Rodriguez said. “I wish I could say. I couldn’t tell you today, this is the truth, is Brendan Gibbons or Seth Broekhuizen going to be the first one to kick a field goal out there? It really depends on the distance and what hash we’re on.”

Rodriguez explained that the lack of a frontrunner wasn’t due to poor performance in practice. In fact, he’s seen positive results.

“They’ve both kicked pretty well out here in the outdoor conditions, but it’s been the same way the whole season — they’ve kicked well in practice,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve just got to transfer it over to the game.”

Carrying over their success in practice may just be a mental issue, and Rodriguez has suggested that the kickers see sports psychologists to help.

“We don’t force it on them, but we tell those guys that if you want to talk to somebody it could help,” Rodriguez said. “Because there’s a lot more mental makeup to that position than any other position. And I’ve never played the position so I couldn’t tell you what they think, but it’s tough to go out there and that’s your sole (role).

“Everybody’s just looking at you on that one play and you’re coming off the sidelines. But they’re young guys, and hopefully they’ll have a successful Saturday.
The weather in Jacksonville was sunny and in the mid-50s on Wednesday. A high around 72 degrees is predicted for Saturday afternoon — a far cry from the cold and windy conditions the kickers had to face throughout the season.

Disregarding the weather, Michigan’s kicking situation could be considered one of the worst in college football. Gibbons connected on 1-of-4 field goal attempts. His one make, a 24-yarder, came in the Wolverines’ season opener against Connecticut. Broekhuizen hit field goals of 34, 37 and 35 yards against Michigan State, Penn State and Illinois, respectively. But he missed six of his nine tries.

In all of Michigan’s four makes, the Wolverines stalled in the red zone. Anything further than that has been no-man’s land for the kicking game. Rodriguez’s offense had no choice but to go for it on fourth down instead of attempting long field goals once the limitation of Michigan’s kicking game was clear.

One option that hasn’t been explored during a game is the possibility of freshman punter Will Hagerup.

Hagerup emerged as a bright spot for the Michigan special teams, averaging 44 yards per punt, and even took over kickoff duties after the bye week starting against Penn State. He was non-committal when asked if he would ever return to what he did in high school and become a placekicker too.

“I want to do whatever is best for the team,” Hagerup said Tuesday afternoon. “And if the coaches think that they need me to do that, I would be happy to step up for that.”

Picking up placekicking is not something that Hagerup could do in a week. Even though he kicked in high school, the process would probably have to take place during the offseason.

“It’s a very hard thing to kick in college football,” Hagerup said. “You’ve got guys rushing at you, trying to block it … It’s a hard thing, and it would take a lot of work to be a great kicker.

“I’ve obviously worked on that a lot in high school. Since I got here I really wanted to focus on punting. That’s why there’s an offseason as well. But I think the (kickers) are going to be one year older next year, one year more ready to kick.”