A few minutes with K-State kicker Josh Cherry

Josh Cherry is a smart guy.

He knows he should be making more field goals. He knows his 0 for 3 start to the season has cost his team. And he knows he will need to start kicking better in order for Kansas State to improve as the season goes along.

Knowing all that, he also understood that he would have to answer some tough questions this week. When your team loses a game by two points and you personally missed two field goals and an extra point in said game, there's an inherent amount of blame that comes your way, both from the outside and within.

But the junior kicker tried not to let that bother him. As reporters assembled to ask him questions about his struggles, he tried opening with a joke.

Will he do better this coming week? Of course, he replied, he could take up gymnastics or cricket and instantly be better at that sport than he was at kicking last week in Louisiana.

But in all seriousness, Cherry is dedicated to improving his game. He seemed very focused when talking this week. Here's a sampling of what he said:

What is your top priority this week?

Cherry: "Just trying to fix the bad habits that I have gotten into lately with the kicking. Just really focusing on starting over, rebuilding my kicking and trying to get back to where I was."

What are those bad habits?

Cherry: "Talking to some coaches, kicking into the net, we think, has created a couple bad habits. Because as I kick into the net, I swing my body out so I miss the net and I don't run into it. Just kinda the fact that I open up my hips when I do kick a ball, that's what's causing it to go off part of my toe. That's why it's going off to the right. This week I'm trying to keep my head down and keep my shoulders back. There's a lot of things to kicking that people don't know about, and anybody who has ever kicked would know if you open up your shoulder that's a huge problem. That's what I've been doing."

Can fixing those problems be a long process?

Cherry: "It's not necessarily a long process. I got into some bad habits. Bad habits are easy to get into and hard to get rid of. Kicking is the same as a golf swing, basically. I'm still there confidence wise. I had a really good two-a-days this season, kicked better than I ever had in my life. Then I came up with all these bad habits. I need to fix them in a hurry because I can't go on much longer kicking like this."

With the offense struggling, are you putting pressure on yourself to make every kick?

Cherry: "I definitely am. I think I feel a little bit of pressure. Offense, they're sure trying. I just didn't come through field goal wise. I feel like that's my fault, and I do accept responsibility for that. Division I, you've gotta hit field goals. I can't go on kicking like this."

Were you feeling pressure when you missed that extra point against ULL?

Cherry: "I just lined up the kick and thought, this is a big kick. I was just trying way too hard, trying to put the ball in the perfect spot rather than just line up and kick it. I've kicked a million balls in my life. I just gotta do what I'm here to do. I was just trying to pinpoint the ball, as I hit it I knew it missed."

Has it helped, though, that coach Snyder has shown a lot of confidence in you?

Cherry: "Yeah, it really helps. On the plane ride back to Kansas that night he called me up and sat down and talked to me. He said he had a lot of faith in me. He's seen me kick in practice. He knows I can do it. It's just I gotta work out all these bad habits and get back to where I was. And just the fact that he's so positive and everyone on the team has been so positive, it really helps."