Ross "Das Boot" Krautman Das Best Kicker In Big East This Week
Share All sharing options for: Ross "Das Boot" Krautman Das Best Kicker In Big East This Week
I admit, I was wary of Ross Krautman when he came to us this year. Early on when he he took over for Ryan Lichtenstein so Lichy could "rest his leg," I wondered why that leg didn't seem to get better for weeks on end. Eventually it was clear that Krautman has supplanted last year's hero and, as a freshmen, was laying claim to the position for the next years, robbing us of the chance to tweet LICHTENSTEIN!!! in key situations.
That said, Das Boot, The Kraut, whatever German-sounding nickname you prefer to give him, has earned the right to be our No. 1 guy so far this season. He officially planted that flag this past weekend with his 48-yard boomer and the game-clinching 24-yarder with a minute left to ice the win over Rutgers. That Krautman is a NJ guy and was heavily-recruited by the Scarlet Knights just adds to the whole wonderful story.
The Big East took notice this week and named Das Boot the Big East Special Teams Player of the Week.
On a day when points were hard to come by, the true freshman from Franklin Lakes, N.J., kicked two field goals, of 48 and 24 yards. One tied the game in the third quarter, and the second, with 1:07 left to play, capped a gritty drive that won the game and put SU (now 7-3, 4-2 Big East) in its first bowl game since 2004.
The game-winner was Krautman's conference-leading 15th field goal of the season. He is 15-of-16 in field goals so far this year.
Derrell Smith was named to the Big East Honor Roll for his 10 tackles and 1.5 sack performance. Impressive as those numbers are, its more impressive that we're basically just used to it by now. Ho-hum...