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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Obtaining a Scholarship was a Snap for Cutler
October 05, 2006 | Football
Oct. 4, 2006
Mark Znidar, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH - Kyle Cutler has always paid close attention to what his football coaches have said. That doesn't mean he believed every word of it.
As a fourth-grader, he never forgot what Jonathan Alder High School coach Barry Blackstone said.
"I was a water boy for the team, but coach Blackstone had me snap the ball every day in practice," Cutler said. "He'd say, `Kyle, some day this will all pay off for you.' He knew that it wasn't easy for any team at any level to find a longsnapper. That was the beginning of a weird story."
Cutler went on to be an All-Ohio linebacker for the Pioneers, but he earned the chance to become a preferred walk-on at Bowling Green as a longsnapper on punts and placekicks.
Blackstone's words echoed inside Cutler's brain after spring practice of his redshirt freshman year when Falcons coach Gregg Brandon called him into his office for what he thought would be a routine interview.
"Coach talked about roles on the team, then looked me in the eyes and said, `Well, you've earned yourself a scholarship,' " Cutler said. "I said, `What?' He said, `You're our long-snapper now. You've earned it.' I didn't know what to say. Then I remembered what coach Blackstone had said."
Cutler, a junior, will have his own cheering section of family and friends Saturday when BG plays top-ranked Ohio State in Ohio Stadium. Will Connery, a former Buckeyes walk-on who owns Max Sports Center in Dublin, wants Ohio State to win but will be pulling for Cutler on the side.
Cutler worked out at Connery's training facility before he went to Bowling Green.
"You could see a kid who had a lot of desire and heart because he got to college without anyone teaching him about strength, conditioning or speed," Connery said. "Kyle kept working hard, and he lost 20 percent body fat in six or seven weeks. He really got after it. He wanted to be a major-college football player.
"But we do tease him. After he was put on scholarship, I told him, `Forget about linebacker. You're done. You've got too much value as a longsnapper.' "
Cutler, 6 feet 1, 225 pounds, would do anything to play a little linebacker or help out on punt return or kickoff coverage teams.
"At the end of my sophomore year, I was moving my way up the depth chart as a linebacker and chasing my dream," Cutler said. "I got to travel to Oklahoma. I always get teased about not being an athlete. I am an athlete.
"But being a long-snapper got me on the field quicker. I know my importance to the team. You've got to be perfect. Even the most minor detail that goes wrong -- making one false step -- can lead to trouble. ... I'll practice 40 to 50 snaps at practice. Repetition is huge."
Bowling Green has had a multitude of problems in the kicking game, but Brandon said Cutler hasn't been at fault. Freshman Alonso Rojas has had one punt blocked and is averaging 36.4 yards. Many times he'll kick rugby style just to get the ball off. Place-kicker Sean Ellis has had a field goal blocked and missed two extra points.
Offensive guard John Lanning said Bowling Green players might tease Cutler, but they know he can do more than center the ball.
"In Kyle's first year he made more tackles on punts in his first three games than the previous long-snapper made in an entire season," Lanning said. "It means a lot to have a guy like that, a guy with such heart. Kyle is solid. Kyle also is a solid human being. He's one of the religious leaders of our team. He's fun, too. He's always telling us about his hometown, about tending the cows and farming."
