“We practiced it during the week and we caught our own hands team off guard,” Smyth said. “Vele did a great job, the boys did a great job. It was nice to be able to recover that.
“It’s very hard to control where it’s going to spin. You know it’s going to spin eventually, as long as you don’t smack it. We practice that every week, it was nice to be able to help the team out.”
“Ice cold, man,” quarterback Tyler Shough said. “Ice cold in his veins. I think that’s tough, whenever you’re sitting around the whole game. You’re trying to stay warm. I think he did a really good job, just coming in.
“I think the team saw that, just his neutrality, even in the kicking competition the whole week. He came in there and he made a really tough kick because we’ve got to convert on that. We knew we really had to get points, so just really proud of him stepping up.
Regarding the onside kick, Shough said, “I see him practicing every single day. Him and Grupe and all those guys, they’re dialed in on their craft. I give the credit to him, and all the special teams for stepping up really big there because that’s a huge play.”