Bibeau shines early in career
After fighting to win job, freshman kicker proves his worth
As freshman kicker Shawn Bibeau attempted to make field goals in practice on Tuesday, the first-team defense screamed to psyche him out.
They blocked his kick two times in a row, and after both, they continued to razz him.
Getting hassled from veterans is just a part of life for a freshman on the football team. In Bibeau’s case, it is certainly all in fun.
The 19-year-old has stepped into an adverse situation and been one of the biggest surprises of the young season, and his teammates have nothing but respect for the way he goes about his business.
“ As much as we give him crap because he is younger, we still see how hard he is working and what he can be,” Bison junior All-American punter Mike Dragosavich said.
“ The upperclassmen give me a hard time, but it is all cool, we’re one big family,” Bibeau, a 5-foot-11, 200 pound White Bear Lake, Minn. product, said.
In his first two games, Bibeau made a name for himself on the national level in Division I-AA by garnering Great West Football Conference Special Team’s Player-of-the-Week following each.
In his first collegiate game when the Bison hosted Concordia-St. Paul, Bibeau’s said his mom told him he looked green and sick when she saw him from the stands after he took pre-game warm-ups.
Bibeau admitted he was uneasy as he had never played in front of a big crowd before, but after his first kick said ‘it was good from there.’
Bibeau proceeded to make nine extra points in the game and added hit a field goal from 26 yards for the first of his collegiate career.
The game with Northeastern was the true test of how he would handle himself in clutch situations.
He responded by draining three second-half field goals to propel the Bison to a 23-10 victory over the Cardinals.
“ We always knew that he had talent,” Bison head coach Craig Bohl said. “I think it is important to have him get an opportunity to gain some confidence and each game he has been more confident.”
What’s remarkable is that coming into the season, for the first time in several years, the Bison weren’t certain who would be kicking the ball for them.
Four-year starter Cory Vartanian graduated, leaving the position up for grabs.
Amongst several others, Bibeau and Kyle Wilcox emerged as the two front-runners for the job.
Wilcox had been Vartanian’s backup for the previous two seasons. His only playing time came when Vartanian was out with an injury in 2004, he hit one field goal.
Early in camp, a quad injury and sprained ankle knocked Bibeau out for a week and a half. While sitting out, Bibeau was convinced he lost the job for the season.
“ It was bad,” Bibeau, who hurt his ankle while rehabilitating the quad injury. “I was thinking to myself, I am not going to play this year because I haven’t been able to compete.”
As fall camp went on, Bibeau got healthy and his strong leg — Bohl said he hit crossbar from 62 yards — continued to impress the coaching staff.
He won the field goal and extra point duties while Wilcox was slated to handle kickoffs.
After Wilcox’s struggled with his first three kickoffs of the game, Bohl decided to make the switch and have Bibeau, who hadn’t practiced kickoffs in nearly a month, take over.
From there, Bibeau had the job, and during the following week, Wilcox quit the team.
“ It just showed a lot that (Bibeau) had more devotion and just wanted it more,” Dragosavich said.
Not bad for a guy who didn’t consider playing major college football until late in his high school career.
After a strong showing at nationally-recognized kicking and punting camp prior to his senior year followed by an all-state football season at White Bear Lake, Bibeau began to realize his potential.
Although he had offers from other schools, he liked NDSU because he knew he would have an opportunity to compete immediately. After a visit from former NDSU assistant coach Casey Bradley, Bibeau was set on playing for the Bison.