Death, Taxes and Forbath
Early in UCLA's afternoon practice as the Bruins prepared to participate in special teams drills, coach Rick Neuheisel told his players, "There are three things in life you can count on: Death, Taxes and Forbath."
Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks graduate Kai Forbath has certainly earned the vote of confidence from Neuheisel after making 19 of 22 field-goal attempts last year, including his final 13.
After receiving third-team All-America honors by the Associated Press last season, Forbath is on the preseason watch list for the Groza Award and was recently selected by Ivan Maisel to the ESPN.com preseason All-America team, along with senior defensive back Alterraun Verner.
Forbath, a junior, was also selected as the preseason All-America placekicker by Sports Illustrated's Stewart Mandel and Mark Beech in their recent College Football Preview issue.
So, with all eyes on Forbath as he lined up for field-goal practice, Neuheisel said, "Come on Forbath, don't make me look bad."
After two successful kicks, Forbath had a 42-yard attempt blocked by Kyle Bosworth and returned by Rahim Moore for a touchdown.
Later in practice, with UCLA running a hurry-up offense to simulate a 2-minute drill, Forbath had a 51-yard attempt blocked by Brian Price. He finally connected on a 36-yarder to end practice.
"We have to look at the protection," Neuheisel said. "Kai is usually pretty good about putting it through the uprights, but the ball has got to get airborne first."
That's a lot of pressure to put on a kicker... I wonder if Neu was ramping up the pressure early to get him used to it? I hope it doesn't back fire....