Poke in New England said:
if our kicker has the yips we are in big trouble. Because I honestly feel like we will keep trotting him out there no matter how bad it gets instead of adjusting to the circumstances.
Ironically, the only way to get a good kicker through the kicker version of the yips is to keep trotting them out there. It's a gamble and a double-edged sword; you have to really believe in the kicker in order to take that chance, but it has to be done and you have to give them a couple more misses before pulling the plug. It's something they have to work through.
Also, not putting them out there in what would be obvious/normal FG situations actually does more harm than good. It doesn't just rob them of the ability to work through it; it actively undermines their focus and confidence.
There's a reason kickers
usually get a longer leash than most players. Considering Hoyland is/was one of the best kickers in CFB, you gotta give him that opportunity. He's not given us any reason to doubt that he's a guy you can take that chance with. Again, every high level kicker goes through this at some point...I think if there was anyone to stick with and try to get through it, it's Hoyland.
(Also, to be fair, I'm not going to hold missing a 50+ yarder against any kicker, even Hoyland...and I almost
never hold blocks against a kicker.)
As for the fake punt stuff, yea, it's infuriating and I actually made the same point elsewhere. It's insult to injury because the only time we try a trick play is some vanilla crap at the worst possible moment when everyone sees it coming from a mile away (see: flea flicker @ Boise State, 2019) and then we use that as an excuse to never do it again. Meanwhile, perhaps
because we don't run any kind of trickery ourselves, we're never looking for it....so teams run them against us at will with almost a 100% success rate.