Until the myth was busted in 2008, it was believed that goldfish had a memory of three seconds.
According to Ohio kickers Matt Amicone, Josiah Yazdani and Matt Green, their memory needs to be even shorter if they want to be successful at their position.
And as the three vie to replace Bobcat all-time points leader Matt Weller, they knew they’d have to put their short memory and every other skill they have on display to earn playing time.
Amicone was a Second Team All-Ohio kicker at Tri Valley High School in Zanesville. He became the standard for kickers at his school, setting records for both total points and field goals made.
Choosing Ohio was a difficult decision for Amicone, as the redshirt freshman had a deep attachment to Pittsburgh, who was actively recruiting him. The connection for him ran in the family, as it was where his grandfather went to school.
When Amicone met with coach Frank Solich, however, he thought that Solich was a man he could trust and enrolled last year, redshirting during the 2012 season.
As a product of Athens County, Yazdani wanted to escape the area he’d grown up in since seventh grade, as he was Alexander High School’s kicker.
He had accepted an offer to kick for Toledo, but when the Bobcats sent him an offer, he just couldn’t refuse playing close to home.
“I always kind of wanted to get out of the Athens area,” Yazdani said. “I kind of wanted to branch out. But it’d be easier on the family if I went here, so that kind of made the decision for me and I’ll never have to travel far to go home.”
He redshirted his freshman year in 2011 before his 2012 season ended quickly, as he tore his ACL in practice during a tackling drill, but he said that everything happens for a reason and he’s blessed to be able to kick once again.
Green was highly recruited out of Lafayette High School in Lexington, Ky., receiving interest from Cincinnati and Maryland before ultimately choosing to enroll at Oklahoma State.
Green, like his fellow kickers, redshirted his freshman year and was a backup for the Cowboys last season. But after a sudden illness struck his father, Green wanted to play closer to home and he found his way to the Bobcats.
Entering training camp in August, each of the kickers had a chance to earn the starting job, showcasing their abilities for the coaches. A week before the game, coaches hadn’t made the decision of who would start.
Days before the season opener against Louisville, Solich named Green as the kicker that would attempt field goals and extra points, while Yazdani would be the man on kickoffs.
During the opener, Green struggled in his first collegiate game and missed two attempts from 32 and 45 yards, respectively, admitting that he might not have handled the pressure as well as he could have.
But Solich trotted Green out once again for the 27-21 victory against North Texas, in which he completed two of his three field goal attempts. After missing his first attempt of the day, finally seeing a kick move through the uprights meant “more than words could say” for the redshirt sophomore.
And for Solich to have trust in Green after his opening game struggles was huge for his confidence.
“It showed me that they want me to be the guy and to prove myself,” Green said. “And they gave me the opportunity to prove that more than once, and I appreciate that.”
