Special Teams

[chri1673]

Should we be concerned about our special teams the past few games it has had multiple glaring mistakes whether its allowing huge returns against a 1-aa school or kicking it out of bounds multiply times, poor punts etc.
Iowa seems to be pretty solid in this area and has me nervous.

 

[tikited]

Should we be concerned about our special teams the past few games it has had multiple glaring mistakes whether its allowing huge returns against a 1-aa school or kicking it out of bounds multiply times, poor punts etc.
Iowa seems to be pretty solid in this area and has me nervous.

I'm nervous about every aspect of our team right now.

 

[gophergrad]

Kent talked a little about this in his blog a couple days ago. See the quote below, but it seems like they switched it up last week as a response to the out of bounds kicks and switching it up obviously lead to some breakdowns in coverage on kickoffs.

The punting game is a whole other story, although looking at the season on the whole, last week was an aberration.

I was talking to John Butler, the team's linebackers and special teams coach.

Remember those out-of-bounds kicks against Illinois? Well, prepping for SDSU they decided to change things up a bit and kick more towards the middle of the field. Problem is, that changes everything in terms of coverage.

"You change from doing something you've been doing for two and a half years," Butler said. "It's like changing your defense."

When you kick it to the middle, the other team has many more options on its return than if you kick it to one side. That's why the Gophers went back to directional kicking later in the SDSU game. When you kick directionally, hang time is less of an issue as well.

 

[GVBadger]

I think you meant "Special Forces".

 

[gopherguy05]

I think you meant "Special Forces".

Just like when I refer to you and pantherhawk as "Special People"

 

[Big Play]

Its special Forces not special teams.