Those of us old enough to remember ABC’s Wide World of Sports can remember Jim McKay’s voice saying, “the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat” every Saturday afternoon.

For kickers, that phrase is a perfect description of their job, and any kicker that has been around long enough has dealt with both.

Purdue’s J.D. Dellinger, Friday night’s loss to Minnesota fell on the down-side.

At the end of the first half, Purdue quarterback Jack Plummer drove the Boilermakers down to the 27-yard line, and when a pass to wide receiver Rondale Moore was ruled out of bounds to result in a fourth down, Dellinger miss-hit the kick, hitting the ground first, and then the ball, resulting a blocked attempt and the Boilermakers coming away without any points, and trailing at the half 21-10.

Fast-forward to the fourth period, after Minnesota lost the ball on downs in their own territory, Purdue and Dellinger had a chance to tie the game up at 34 with a 31-yard field goal, but the kick sailed wide right, and left the Gophers up 34-31, where the score would finish.

Dellinger tweeted after the game, taking the heat for the misses, and pledging to do better.

Certainly the entire game can’t be dumped on one players shoulders, and Dellinger’s feelings and apology can be understood but there are a lot of plays that go wrong to contribute to a loss.

Dellinger needs to give himself a break.