UW’s Larsh following through on his offseason improvement
MADISON – Senior Collin Larsh is quietly in the midst of his best season at Wisconsin.
The graduate of Monona Grove High School entered the 2021 season having made 17 of 25 field-goal attempts, a conversion rate of 68.0%.
As UW (2-3) prepares to host Army (4-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday, Larsh has made 7 of 9 attempts, a conversion rate of 77.8%.
He saw a 25-yard attempt blocked in the loss to Penn State because the interior blocking failed and he was just left on a 52-yarder in the loss to Notre Dame.
That Larsh was given the chance to hit the 52-yarder was interesting. He entered this season 15 of 18 (83.3%) from 39 yards and in but just 2 of 7 (28.6%) from 40 yards and longer.
A different offseason training regimen overseen by new strength coach Shaun Snee has given Larsh more pop.
“Coach Snee has done a really good job of implementing a program for kickers specifically,” Larsh said. “And I had reached out over the break to some guys in the NFL to ask them what they did. And Snee was able to talk to them, too, and implement a good plan for how we can grow stronger.”
According to Larsh, the kickers now work specifically on explosion and hip strength.
“Before we did everything everybody else did,” he said. “And kicker-punter is such a specific position. You don’t need to be so beefy. You don’t need to hit people.”
The new regimen began immediately after the end of spring practice and Larsh believes he can feel the difference in a variety of ways.
“Kicking takes a toll on your body a lot more than people think,” he said. “In past seasons you’d get to Game 4 or Game 5 and you’d start to feel (fatigue). Now, my legs are still underneath me. I feel like I can still hit balls farther than what I was before.”
Larsh’s longest made field goal is 44 yards, which he hit in 2019 at Illinois.
His longest this season is a 43-yarder against Penn State.
The 52-yard attempt against Notre Dame had plenty of distance.
“I thought I had it,” he said. “I put it pretty much where I wanted it to be. I thought I had it but it just carried to the left.”
Larsh estimated his max distance last season was 48 yards.
“This season I am good from 55 in in terms of power,” he said.
That power came in handy on kickoffs at Illinois and could be needed again this week. Kickoff specialist Jack Van Dyke, who missed time in camp with a right leg injury, was held out against the Illini and is questionable this week.
Larsh averaged 63.0 yards on five kickoffs. He had just one touchback but had enough hang time that the Illini called for a fair catch four times.
“I thought he did a nice job and you appreciate being able to put that on him,” head coach Paul Chryst said “And I’ve liked what he has done to this point on field goals.”