Sunday, October 30, 2011

Wreckage Fins....Special Teams

All right, I'm almost done.

The special teams for the Kent game were awful.  I am sure this will be reflected on the ICSTR report later this week, but for now, let's just catalog what we saw...

Two missed FGs
Two out of bounds kickoffs
A fumbled punt that was the difference in the game
A kickoff where Boo Boo muffed it, didn't know he could down it and was tackled on the 5.

It is one thing for special teams to not win you a game.  It is another for special teams to lose you a game.

Because as bad as things were on both sides of the ball, just an ordinary performance by the special teams and our team wins the game.

Again, we didn't need Superman.  But make one of those FGs, handle the punt and keep the kickoffs in bounds, and BG wins the game.

Special teams have been better under Clawson than under Brandon which is part of why this was so frustrating.  As Coach often says, when Cooper and Gates make mistakes, those are two of our best players making mistakes.  Cooper is a senior.

And as for the kicking game--field goals and kickoffs alike--I hold the program responsible.  These kickers are who they are.  This has been an ongoing issue.  It is this coach's third year here, and he wants to be able to kick FGs, and the fact there were not effective kickers in our uniform yesterday is on the staff's shoulders.  It isn't a magic formula.  Other coaches in the MAC have figured it out.

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