Dayton needs better kicking game

After watching my first Dayton game of the season Friday night, one thing is readily apparent.

The Dust Devils struggle in the kicking game. Dayton scored three times, yet never went for a kicking PAT, and converted just one 2-point conversion. The kick-offs were average at best and the one punt I can remember was a wobbler.

Obviously coach Rob Turner needs to do some on-campus recruiting. It's a shame that NIAA rules won't allow a student-athlte to play two sports at once because I'm sure there is somebody on the soccer team who could help out.

I'm not wild about the offense. It's just not diverse enough. If the Dust Devils ever fall behind by 14 or more it would be tough to catch up because it's a grind-it-out offense designed to get three or four yards a carry.

It would be nice to see a spread package put in just to give defenses something else to look at; something else to prepare for.

• It's nice to see Colin Kaepernick get some time, and not just mop-up duty with the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers are doing a good job of takng advantage of his skill set thus far, and I'm sure coach Jim Harbaugh will contnue to do so as the season rolls on.

The only scary moment when he tried to connect with Randy Moss on deep pass near the endzone. He threw a nice ball, but he threw into triple coverage. The one thing that will get a rookie or a young player stuck on the sidelines is bad decision making.

• It's been a week, and I'm still having trouble getting over the choke job by the Americans at the Ryder Cup.

How can a group of players get dominated so bad on the last two holes of the course like the Americans did on Nos. 17 and 18? There is no excuse. You had some of the top putters in the world unable to knock down 10-to-15 foot putts or make a decent sand shot. On the other hand, you had Justin Rose knocking in monster putts and Ian Poulter making a ton of great shots.

Yes Tiger Woods didn't win a point, but he didn't play that badly, either, he didn't get a bunch of help from Steve Stricker in the team event. Also, how does Brandt Snedeker lose so badly to Paul Lawrie. For crying out loud, it's Paul Lawrie.

I certainly would have put Tiger out sooner than the last match. By all rights, the Americans should have had it wrapped up long before that 12th match.

• Admittedly I'm not a big fan of high school girls playing football, but every now and then you find a gal playing tackle football with the boys.

Darby Beckwith is a sophomore wide receiver on the Virgnia City team. She has played in two games this year, including two full series on Saturday against North Tahoe.