Thursday, September 12, 1996

Tech kicking duel remains interesting
By MARK BABINECK
Associated Press

LUBBOCK - The battle to become Texas Tech's first-string kicker was supposed to be wide open, not wide right.

Even though Tony Rogers was one of college football's most accurate long-range kickers last season, Red Raiders coach Spike Dykes wanted to give possible diamond in the rough Jaret Greaser a chance.

Rogers won the job, then missed four of his first five kicks in an opening week loss at Kansas State. Backup Greaser came in late to drill a 53-yarder, and he was a backup no more.

Greaser nailed four more in a row last Saturday in a 31-3 romp against Oklahoma State, further securing his spot as the Red Raiders prepare to visit Georgia a week from Saturday.

"That's the life of a kicker," said Greaser, a walk-on sophomore from Amarillo. "It's a difficult situation. One minute, you're best friends with everyone. The next minute, you're sitting by yourself."

Greaser, who has the stronger leg of the two, handled kickoff chores last season while Rogers was the Southwest Conference's fifth-leading scorer with 70 points, including 37-for-37 on conversions.

Few teams feature two quality Divison I-A kickers like Tech, which allowed coaches to concentrate more on the punting job this summer. Going into the season, coach Spike Dykes admitted he was nervous about who would replace Brad Cade, a senior last year.

Jeremy Hernandez, a sophomore from Midland, beat out two freshmen for the job and has responded with a 47.2-yard average on nine tries, ranking him among the nation's best.

"I can't believe it," Hernandez said. "I need someone to pinch me. If someone had told me I'd be the punter and doing as well as I've done after two games, I'd have driven myself to the funny farm."

The services of Hernandez and Greaser are magnified by a Tech offense that has scored just four touchdowns in two games despite having one of the country's top tailbacks in Byron Hanspard.
The Red Raiders will take what they can get until the offense gears up, offensive coordinator Rick Dykes said.

"Any time you move the ball down the field around the 30 and get three points, that's important," Dykes said.