Indiana University Athletics
Toth Comfortable Leading Special Teams
8/28/2015 12:08:00 PM | Football
By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Erich Toth's moment comes and goes in a matter of seconds, and the last thing the senior punter wants is to be remembered.
When Toth jogs out onto the field, morale is already trending downward. His number being called means Indiana failed to get on the scoreboard.
People tend to forget the good punts, Toth says, but they don't struggle do recall the bad ones. That's why his favorite games are the ones people forget he even exists.
"If I have a game where nobody mentions my name, I call it a pretty successful game," Toth said. "You can have 10 good punts and one bad punt and everyone points to the bad one like the good ones never happened."
Unfair? Maybe. But that's the life of a punter. Toth has gotten used to it as he begins to enter his third season as the Indiana starter.
"I tend to think it's one of the tougher positions," Toth said. "A quarterback may throw an incomplete pass, but he knows he has another throw right after that. With punting, you get one kick and you're off the field regardless of how good it is."
Toth is constantly seeking unobtainable perfection. Football may be a game of yards and inches, but kicking is one of centimeters and launch degrees.
For every punt, the long snapper has .75 seconds to get the punter the ball. From there, Toth has between 1.25 and 1.3 seconds to get off his kick. Any slower and he risks getting his punt blocked.
Those are the ones that get him remembered. He wants to avoid those.
"You don't even have time to think about it," Toth said. "You're out there and you literally black out so you just do what you do."
In five seasons, Toth has emerged as one of the Big Ten's most veteran punters, which doesn't surprise former IU standout kicker Mitch Ewald.
Toth arrived in Bloomington raw with potential, Ewald said. He was long, lean and flexible. He had all the physical tools a punter needed and the drive to separate himself, Ewald said.
"He came in as a guy that really, really wanted to work hard," Ewald said. "And really, he kind of pushed me because I was kind of the opposite. I came in with a little more talent from the beginning that he didn't have. He had to really work for it, and that rubbed off on me."
Toth and Ewald became best friends that did practically everything together.
They were fraternity brothers at Beta Theta Pi. They took the same car to practice together. They ate meals together. They sat next to each other on practically every bus ride and every team meeting.
"He's basically my big brother," Toth said. "He took me under his wing my freshman year. He taught me how to be a great leader and a great player. I wouldn't be the player I am without him, honestly."
The Hoosiers don't have a coach dedicated to teaching kicking and snapping, which makes Toth's job even more important.
He'll spend hours with the other specialists examining every last detail of their snaps and kicks just like Ewald did before him.
He may not be a long snapper, but that doesn't matter. Toth knows what's right and what's wrong and will do his best to study film and give advice that gives his teammates an advantage just like Ewald did years before.
"I knew that Toth would take on that role when I left because that's just the type of guy he is," Ewald said. "I guess I kind of took him under my wing, and I don't know, guys tend to give me the credit but he was the guy from day one that really wanted to learn. I don't think he gets nearly enough credit himself."
Toth said he's not as interested in credit. He'd rather have the spotlight on someone else.
Toth averaged 40.7 yards on punts last season, downing 18 inside the 20-yard line. He wants to pin opponents even deeper this season while decreasing his touchbacks after having seven last year.
At the end of the day, the numbers don't mean all that much, Toth said. He just wants to limit his mistakes.
In a perfect world, Toth won't hear his name called at all. But when he does, he'll be ready to go.
"I just want to do my job," Toth said. "That's the number one goal. Go out there, do your job and be reliable. Be dependable. That's what makes for a great punter."
