Like many, I was sorry to see Vakos move on following his freshman year at Ohio. However, his replacement, Gianni Spetic, has made the loss less painful, if not non-existent. A comparison:

2023 - XPA: Vakos a perfect 34 of 34 while Spetic almost equaled that accuracy, hitting 33 of 34
FGA: Vakos hit 15 of 19 (79%) while Spetic hit 18 of 26 (69%)

2024: XPA: Vakos 6 of 6 and Spetic is 7 of 7
FGA: Vakos is 5 of 7 (71%) while Spetic hasn't missed in 7 attempts.

Have Spetic's kickoffs improved a lot this year? I seem to remember that was an issue last year. It hasn't been so far this year.

Spetic is 2 - 8 from 40+ with a career long of 45 yards.

Vakos is 6-9 from 40-49, 5-10 from 50+ with a long of 56. Last week he hit a 53 yarder into the net. A lot of his long misses are LONG tries.

We don't even try the kicks Vakos was capable of cause Spetic doesn't have the leg.

Make no mistake, though, even if Spetic is not reliable in the 45+ range, he is an excellent kicker. Don't forget that, in the even that Ohio does need a 40+ field goal, they do have a secret weapon. Jacob Lewis specializes in longer kicks. For his career, Lewis is only 4-7 on field goals under 40 yards, and only 8-10 on extra points, but his accuracy on long kicks is uncanny; Lewis is 7-8 from 40-49 yards, and 1-1 from 50+ (51 yarder).

Thus, maybe the question should not be "Spetic or Vakos" but "Spetic+Lewis or Vakos".