Tag: Michael Lantz

USC won’t be caught shorthanded on special teams in 2025

USC has restocked the cupboard on special teams. Can the Trojans now address their offensive line?

As we have stated here in the past, USC’s best player in 2024 played on neither offense or defense, but special teams. Eddie Czaplicki, who won the Ray Guy Award as the top punter in the nation, was the Trojans’ top player in 2024, alongside Woody Marks. However, with both Czaplicki and starting kicker Michael Lantz out of eligibility after the Las Vegas Bowl, the Trojans will need to find replacements at both positions.

In recent days, they took a major step towards doing such with the addition of UNLV transfer kicker Caden Chittenden. With the Rebels this past season, Chittenden was named the Mountain West Freshman of the Year on special teams, making 24 of his 30 field goal attempts.

This comes a week after the Trojans earned a commitment from one of the nation’s top high school punter recruits in Will Weisberg. Wesiberg comes to USC from nearby Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California.

Replacing Lantz and Czaplicki’s production will be an incredibly tough challenge. But with the additions of Chittenden and Weisberg, the Trojans hope they will at least be able to maintain a high level of play at both positions.

USC – LSU might come down to a field goal — but who will kick it?

USC can’t have missed field goals inside 40 yards.

Everyone is expecting a close game with a lot of points from both teams on Sunday when USC plays LSU in Las Vegas in both teams’ season opener.  It is very possible this game might be decided by a field goal late in the fourth quarter.  The question is, who will line up to kick that possible game winner?

Last year Trojan kicker Denis Lynch handled the kicking duties in all 13 games. He was 65-of-66 (98.4%) on extra points and 10-of-14 (71.4%) on field goals. Lynch’s issues were not on the long field goals from 40-53 yards, going 3-for-3.  At Arizona State he split the uprights from 53 yards, the third longest field goal in Trojan history, but he struggled by missing four attempts inside the 40-yard line.

In the offseason, the Lincoln Riley added Michael Lantz, a transfer kicker from Georgia Southern.  Last year for the Eagles, Lantz was 23-of-28 (82.1%) with a long of 48 yards. Lantz’s school record 23 made field goals put him on the Trojan radar. Riley explained that the competition was tight during fall camp and it will continue between the two kickers.

Here is what Riley had to say about the kicking situation going into the game with the Tigers:

Lance will will start off for us. He’ll be the field goal kicker and also handle the kickoffs. It’s been a really good competition.  One that’ll continue to be ongoing throughout the year. We’ve got some unique skill sets in there with Lance, with Dennis, with Eddie. A couple of these young guys have come along and done some really nice things. We’ve got some really talented young kickers in the program, but Mike will get the start on Sunday.

With Lantz getting the nod in Game 1, and a capable backup in Lynch being available just in case, the Trojans should be confident if the game comes down to a last-minute field goal or overtime.

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Michael Lantz needs to give USC one key ingredient

If you watched Denis Lynch kick, you know what Michael Lantz needs to do to improve USC’s kicking game.

USC kicker Michael Lantz has a simple task for the Trojans in 2024. If you have followed USC football closely, you probably know what we are going to say next: He needs to be dependable. More precisely, he needs to make the kicks a kicker is absolutely supposed to make.

Lantz was named to the 2024 Lou Groza Award Watch List. The award is given to the nation’s top collegiate placekicker. Lantz doesn’t need to win an award; he just needs to do what is reasonably expected of a kicker. Denis Lynch missed a lot of kicks under 40 yards for USC. The Trojans need someone who is relentlessly consistent under 40 yards and reliable under 47 yards. If Lantz misses 50-yarders, that’s one thing, but USC can’t waste points when it gets inside an opponent’s 25-yard line and sets up for a 38- or 40-yard kick.

The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Lantz began his career at Minnesota, then moved on to Georgia Southern and will now finish his career with the Trojans. In 2023, Lantz connected on all 45 of his extra-point attempts and went 23-for-28 on field goals. He went 17-for-18 from inside 40 yards, 6-for-9 from between 40 and 49 yards and missed his only attempt from beyond 50 yards.

He also handled kickoffs for the Eagles, forcing 43 touchbacks on 61 kickoffs. Georgia Southern’s touchback rate ranked No. 22 nationally last season. Lantz was named to the Pro Football Focus All-Sun Belt First Team, the College Football Network All-Sun Belt Second Team as both a kicker and kickoff specialist. He was also named to the Phil Steele All-Sun Belt Fourth Team.

The Groza Award is named for National Football League Hall of Fame kicker Lou “The Toe” Groza, who played 21 seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Groza won four NFL championships with Cleveland and was named NFL Player of the Year in 1954.

For more information on the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award and to see the “Stars of the Week” throughout the season, please go to www.lougrozaaward.com. For even more updates on the best kicking performances throughout the season, follow @LouGrozaAward on X.

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