N.C. State senior place-kicker Josh Czajkowski will miss at least the remainder of the regular season because of a leg injury, Wolfpack coach Tom O'Brien announced today at his weekly news conference.
Czajkowski injured his hamstring on the Wolfpack's final kickoff in Saturday's 14-13 loss to Clemson. It's unclear whether he will be able to return for N.C. State's bowl game.
Sophomore Ellis Flint and freshman Chris Hawthorne will compete for the starting position in practice this week. Flint is a former Hofstra player who transferred after that school dropped its football program at the end of last season.
Czajkowski had attended kicking camp with him and brought it to the N.C. State coaching staff's attention that Flint needed to find a place to play.
Hawthorne is a freshman from Leesville Road High who has impressed O'Brien with his strong leg and improvement this season. O'Brien said it's possible that one of the kickers will kick field goals and extra points, and the other will handle kickoffs in Czajkowski's absence.
Czajkowski was injured on a 76-yard kickoff return by Clemson in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game. He was 12-for-16 on field goal attempts this season. He ranks fourth in school history in field goal percentage (.866) and is tied for fourth in career field goals (40).
Comments
Best wishes to Josh for a
Mon, 11/08/2010 - 23:09 — unc098Best wishes to Josh for a speedy recovery. A gutsy player.
Front page news
Mon, 11/08/2010 - 20:21 — TroyBristolSrSure beats a murder or traffic accident! My best to Josh.
seriously..
Mon, 11/08/2010 - 17:45 — dkellyuncinjuries are nothing to laugh about. It's just a surprise that no one has called out the N&O for making this front page news.
where's the " is this really
Mon, 11/08/2010 - 17:44 — dkellyuncwhere's the " is this really front page news" guy at?
Surfer, have you been watching this year?
Mon, 11/08/2010 - 16:53 — Only1JoeP8You do realize how MANY times we have gone for it on 4th down this year, right? We have 9 conversions in 13 attempts (third in the ACC behind Wake {9-for-12} and FSU {4-for-4}). The conversion percentage is 18th in the nation. The nine conversions is top-25 nationally.
Have you not noticed how many times the kicking team tried to run out there for a 45+ yard field goal, only to be waved off as we went for it?
Yes he didn't go for it on 4th-and-1 at midfield, but to imply that TOB hasn't been aggressive in going for it on 4th downs is pretty absurd.
Dunderheaded move
Mon, 11/08/2010 - 18:36 — poysunivyThat was one of the dumbest moves TOB has pulled all year. Actually what he did, in effect, was tell his team that he was throwing in the white towel. He had no confidence in them to pull it off. The coach, I always thought, was to inspire his team, give them confidence, not give up before the game ends. He might as well have pulled them off the field and gone to the locker room. This is why State never has a quality bowl team. With coaches like this we never will have an Alabama, Notre Dame, USC, Ohio State, etc. I'm sorry, but this is icing on the cake. The announcers were raving about TOB's record and what a good job he has done at State and then he pulls this stunt. Back to the drawing board. Maybe, someday we will get another Everett Case, Lou Holtz, or Jim Valvano type of coach.
7 vs 3
Mon, 11/08/2010 - 17:35 — SurferI was not implying that he did not go for it enough, but that 7 points is better than 3. I will offer this though, and I can't take any credit for it, just saw it somewhere else.
"Why does State need a kicker? all they have to do is drive down to their opponent's 5 yard line, punt it and pin them at the one yard line."
Well
Mon, 11/08/2010 - 16:17 — Heels20He probably broke his leg when TOB threw him under the bus.
In all seriousness, these things are never good. Czajkowski received much more attention when he messed up than he did when he succeeded, which is a major disappointment because he did some great things for State. I wish him the best in a speedy recovery and in whatever his future will bring him.
He probably broke his leg
Mon, 11/08/2010 - 20:59 — TDiddytThat's pretty funny Heels. Kudos.
What can I say?
Mon, 11/08/2010 - 21:54 — Heels20I try my best.
Sorry to hear
Mon, 11/08/2010 - 15:33 — SurferIt is never good to lose a player to injury and I am sorry this happed to Josh, but the bright side may be (please don't take this the wrong way) that maybe this expands TOB's fourth down territory, which may help State in the long run.