Cortland senior Jeffrey Lang is one of the only Red Dragons players who divides his practice time honing three totally different skills. He doesn’t mind. It’s the price he must pay for being the most versatile player on his team.

Lang is balancing roles of starting tight end, starting kicker and backup punter for the Red Dragons this season.

‘A year ago we said he can’t do all three things, we have to take one away, so we eliminated the punting,’ Cortland head coach Dan MacNeill said. ‘But he is right back to doing all three things now because he is too talented a player not to potentially utilize all those skill-sets. So he is being a tight-end, he is our starting kicker and our backup punter.’

Since high school, Lang’s value has never been his raw athleticism or talent, but in his versatility. At Dryden High School in Central New York, Lang played starting quarterback, punter, kicker and free safety. Playing on offense, defense and special teams helped Lang develop the fundamentals of crisp route-running and timing that would be important for his collegiate transition to wide receiver and tight end.

Following high school, Lang received a partial scholarship to Northeastern, a Division I-AA school. At Northeastern, Lang redshirted his freshman season and transitioned from quarterback to wide receiver before eventually moving to tight end, a more fitting role for his 6-foot-3, 210-pound build. But Lang was unhappy at Northeastern, and after three semesters, transferred to Division III Cortland.

‘I felt somewhat confined being in the big city, and I just didn’t like it there,’ Lang said. ‘Cortland was close to home and I thought I was just going to be here for a semester or two, but I ended up enjoying it and liking the people and campus and chose to finish out college here.’

Lang entered Cortland as a sort of mystery. Despite kicking and playing tight end at Northeastern, Lang tried out for quarterback and wide receiver for the Red Dragons. After starting out at backup receiver and kicker, Lang transitioned to tight end to fill Cortland’s need at the heavily depleted position. After being used sparingly his first two seasons, Lang is second on the team in points scored his senior season with 42.

‘He is intelligent, he has the ability to catch the ball, he has great hands,’ MacNeill said. ‘He is a great target, and with those hands and his speed he is almost always the fastest tight end on the field.’

Lang has also stepped in to fill the void left by Mathew Mintz in the Cortland kicking game. Lang is 5-for-7 in field goals this season and 19-for-21 in extra points. If that wasn’t enough to show his ability to help the offense, his performance against Rowan four weeks ago and Keane three weeks previously solidified his importance to the team.

In a 32-28 victory over Kean, Lang connected on a 34-yard field goal and three extra points in addition to an 11-yard touchdown reception and two-point conversion as a receiver. He finished the day with 104 yards receiving and a spot on D3football.com’s national team of the week.

In an overall impressive day for Lang, the highlight may have been on a botched snap. With 7:53 left in the fourth quarter and the Red Dragons leading 23-14, Cortland fumbled a snap on the extra point. Holder Wayne Wheeler wrangled the high snap and rolled out to the right. Kean defenders were in tight coverage on Cortland receivers and forced Wheeler back toward the pocket where he hit Lang about four yards behind the line of scrimmage. Lang made a quick stutter-step and bounced off his own blocker into the endzone for the two-point conversion.

‘Initially I thought that we could get the kick off but I was worried it would get blocked, so I was happy when our holder called fire,’ Lang said. ‘Usually the play goes to our tight end in the flat or our holder runs it, so I tried blocking for him, but I probably did more damage than good pushing a defender his way. So I decided to backpedal and see if I could get open as a wide receiver and he ended up seeing me and throwing me the ball.’

Cortland is currently inquiring with the NCAA if there has ever before been a game in which a player made a field goal, three extra points, a touchdown and a two-point conversion. Until then, Cortland will take its 5-0 record and hybrid kicker into its Saturday matchup against Western Connecticut.

‘Lang’s uniqueness comes because of his overall ability to have that many skill-sets to be on the field in all of those different opportunities to score,’ MacNeill said. ‘It just doesn’t happen, he is a very gifted athlete.’

Published on October 13, 2008 at 12:00 pm