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Special Teams

wcbsas

wcbsas

All American
20 Year Member

Special Teams: Please Stop Giving Away Yards​

I appreciated Kyle Cunnan making all seven extra points. Archie Wilson averaged 40 yards on three punts and put one inside the 20.
What I didn’t appreciate were two kickoff offside penalties or a kickoff return that left Nebraska at its own eight.
The offense bailed out that field position with a 92-yard touchdown drive. Great response, but an unnecessary problem to solve.
Special teams didn’t ruin the afternoon. It did contribute to that first-half feeling that Nebraska kept making its own job harder.
There’s room here for a much calmer game next week.
Click to expand...
Above is the snippet from the SI.com article.

I think the mistakes ... Hunter's backtracking on the KO return and the 2 offside penalties all coachable opportunities. If they continue to occur then we can raise our criticism of Maher et al.

The most egregious was Hunter taking a return that could have ended up at the 30 or 35 yard line backwards. For me, you take him off KO returns until he earns back the PT opportunity in practice.

All three of our punts were fair caught, indicative that coverage and/or punts were decent.
We returned 1 of 4 punts a total of 9 yards. 2 others were fair caught.

Take away Hunter's bone-headed KO return and I would think special teams earned a B. Thoughts?
 
My thoughts on ST, is why are we evaluating them after 1 game? Like the OP said, one mistake in game #1 and not we are going to start hammering away. sports writers and evaluators have too much time on their hands

Lets see how a few games go
 
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As mentioned above, some very teachable moments from game one. On our punt returns, we allowed Ohio’s gunners to run downfield almost completely unblocked. I hope to see marked improvement this week.

Archie is showing he is a good weapon. We are blessed to have him. However, it would be okay by me if he doesn’t get a single punt in this week.
 
The returners making some bad decisions was happening all last year also. Coaches can talk until they are blue in the face but a returner has got to just do it not think and backtrack or catch a punt inside the 10 and I would like to see more fair catches on kick offs. Pick your spots but if its not there the 25 is just fine
 
19D Cav said:
The returners making some bad decisions was happening all last year also. Coaches can talk until they are blue in the face but a returner has got to just do it not think and backtrack or catch a punt inside the 10 and I would like to see more fair catches on kick offs.
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Then you change returners until one complies with instruction. I guarantee you there are a dozen guys or more who have returning experience on the roster.
 

Special teams continues to be a net positive.​


Let's take a look at what Nebraska's special teams units did on Saturday:
  • Kickoffs: Bowling Green attempted two returns in the first half. On the first, Keelan Smith made the tackle at the 17-yard line. On the second, Pierce Mooberry made a beautiful open field tackle at the 15. They did not attempt any returns after that.
  • Kickoff return. Nyziah Hunter had two nice returns for a total of 54 yards. Both were returned to - or beyond - the 25.
  • Punt return. Quinn Clark blocked a punt, and Nebraska put strong pressure on a couple of other kicks. Jacory Barney Jr.'s return totals (four for 12 yards) aren't great, but I'll give him credit for being fearless. He has the look of somebody capable of taking any return to the house.
  • Punts. The offense did well enough to give Archie Wilson the night off.
It wasn't all perfect. Kyle Cunanan was short on a 55-yard field goal attempt. NU committed three holding penalties on punt returns.

But all in all, Nebraska's various special teams units are playing well.
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From Dave Feit's article. I tend to agree.

www.si.com

Huskers Handle Their Business in a Workmanlike Blowout

I understand it was not for everybody, but Nebraska's 56-7 victory over the Bowling Green Falcons was close to my definition of a perfect non-conference cupcake
www.si.com www.si.com
 
wcbsas said:
Above is the snippet from the SI.com article.

I think the mistakes ... Hunter's backtracking on the KO return and the 2 offside penalties all coachable opportunities. If they continue to occur then we can raise our criticism of Maher et al.

The most egregious was Hunter taking a return that could have ended up at the 30 or 35 yard line backwards. For me, you take him off KO returns until he earns back the PT opportunity in practice.

All three of our punts were fair caught, indicative that coverage and/or punts were decent.
We returned 1 of 4 punts a total of 9 yards. 2 others were fair caught.

Take away Hunter's bone-headed KO return and I would think special teams earned a B. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
How do you know he hasn’t earned his playing time in practice?
 
Bigger Ed said:
Maybe I'm a bit too demanding, but shouldn't 85-90% of KOs at least get into the end zone?
Click to expand...
I would think at this point in the game most KOs should actually be higher and target between the 5 and 10 yard lines. The basis for this is two fold. First, a KO into the endzone has zero chance of an attempted return that could be stopped inside the 20 yard line. The other is the NFL rules likely will eventually trickle into the pre-pro (college) ranks.

I do admit that situation dictates. If the opponent seems to have a very dynamic returner then yes, kick it out of the endzone.
 
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