Thinking about Special Teams

[WestTexasGopher]

Our offense was white-hot for most of the season. Our defense seemed solid. But our special teams were lacking significantly. Here are our national rankings (per Football Outsiders' rating system ) over the last four years:

2016-19th (4th in the Big Ten)
2017-14th (3rd in the Big Ten)
2018-10th (1st in the Big Ten)
2019-101st (only Big Ten team worse than us was Nebraska)

So, my question- what the heck happened?

That is a massive drop from otherwise high rankings the previous three years. In particular, going from 1st in the conference (last season) to 13th in the conference (this season) seems to call for some kind of explanation.

 

[PitinoFan]

And they didn’t seem to do anything to change it during the season. Every phase of ST sucked.

 

[Johnny Olson]

Does anyone remember the last time we had any decent yardage on a punt return?
How about a blocked kick?
How about the kick off coverage, how does that look? I guess we are near the bottom for yards allowed on kickoffs. Every game the special teams does something that hurts this teams effort.
The cluster formation kickoff which resulted in a 50+ yard return by Wisconsin should be the last straw.
Fleck has a decision to make. Right now special teams is a sh**t show.

 

[btowngopher]

And they didn’t seem to do anything to change it during the season. Every phase of ST sucked.

FG kicking was okay. Punts inside the 20 were good. The rest sucked.

 

[btowngopher]

Does anyone remember the last time we had any decent yardage on a punt return?
How about a blocked kick?
How about the kick off coverage, how does that look? I guess we are near the bottom for yards allowed on kickoffs. Every game the special teams does something that hurts this teams effort.
The cluster formation kickoff which resulted in a 50+ yard return by Wisconsin should be the last straw.
Fleck has a decision to make. Right noe special teams is a sh**t show.

Every punt return the goal seems to be to just fair catch the ball. I don’t recall us ever attempting a block all year.

 

[hungan1]

I am appalled at how bad special teams play is. Wisconsin took advantage of a weak link and had long gains.

The Gophers aren't getting very far in the kickoffs either. I don't see many touchbacks.

If there is going to be a coaching change, it will be on Special Teams. The bottom line is that their schematics are terrible compared to the previous season.

Whatever happened to the ball is the program? Doesn't it apply to ST?

 

[Some guy]

I am appalled at how bad special teams play is. Wisconsin took advantage of a weak link and had long gains.

The Gophers aren't getting very far in the kickoffs either. I don't see many touchbacks.

If there is going to be a coaching change, it will be on Special Teams. The bottom line is that their schematics are terrible compared to the previous season.

Whatever happened to the ball is the program? Doesn't it apply to ST?

I love when people say this.

the schematics are terrible compared to the previous season? Except they are the same. So it’s be impossible for them to suck compared to the previous season.

execution sucked compared to the previous season. The scheme was the same

 

[WestTexasGopher]

I love when people say this.

the schematics are terrible compared to the previous season? Except they are the same. So it’s be impossible for them to suck compared to the previous season.

execution sucked compared to the previous season. The scheme was the same

So, it was simply a matter of execution? I hadn't paid close attention to the schematics but if they were the same, then it was execution and personnel.

Also, I never realized how much I'd miss a kick-*ss kicker (Santosa/Carpenter). Herber, it seems to me, has been solid. But KOs and FGs have been pretty weak.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

This was a trainwreck this year. Doubt it would have made a difference in the Wisconsin game because all three phases had a firm commitment to wetting the bed. But, maybe Iowa works out differently if special teams plays better.

 

[MGGopher]

Yes, yes, yes. MN dodged MANY bullets this year with regard to ST. At least two long kickoff returns by opponents were thankfully called back, but numerous others were not. FG kicking was probably NCAA average (expected with a true Fr and his backup), but definitely a notch down from previous years -- and we saw a blocked one returned for TD. Punter was one of the worst in conference, despite a few memorable ones. Punt returns were rarely attempted or even set up.

My guess is some combo of using fewer starters (trying to tap into somewhat improved depth) and coaching changes. I'm sure PJ sees the need to improve over there and will take the necessary steps.

 

[DCinOK]

That "leave one third of the field entirely uncovered" kickoff team thing has got to stop. Wiscy sees it on film and exploits it with that reverse on their return. Ridiculous on our part.

 

[e.bigelow]

Kickoffs and kickoff coverage has been ok to 'flaming hot-garbage' most of the year. Mostly the latter. Been pretty darn frustrating and I know Ryan Burns has been lamenting our abysmal Special Teams play all season on Podcasts and posts. It's been pretty lackluster.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Herbers was fine this year. He rarely left one returnable and he was pretty good at pinning them inside the 20. He wasn't able to flip the field with his punts, but I don't have a huge issue with him.

Our kickoffs were problematic and our inability to even threaten a FG beyond 35 yards was rough. More than anything, it changed our playcalling.

All of this said, I don't think our special teams were huge problems. They weren't good, but I don't think, statistically, they impacted our record.

 

[Jeshurun]

Thinking about Special Teams.

Why would you do that to yourself?

 

[WestTexasGopher]

Why would you do that to yourself?

Good question. It stood out to me as a key weakness nearly all season. Badgers exploited it on the kick return. And, let's be honest-if we have a strong kicker, we at least try a FG instead of punt from the 35.

 

[Word]

Good question. It stood out to me as a key weakness nearly all season. Badgers exploited it on the kick return. And, let's be honest-if we have a strong kicker, we at least try a FG instead of punt from the 35.

I don't think we would have tried a FG from 52 even with Emmit Carpenter, especially considering the wind/snow/rain.

 

[WestTexasGopher]

I don't think we would have tried a FG from 52 even with Emmit Carpenter, especially considering the wind/snow/rain.

Now that I think about it, you are probably right.

 

[CoMn]

Carpenter, Santoso, Mortell....all were Kill recruits. Claeys got Ryerse. That explains the drop off IMHO. Kill constantly talked about the importance of special teams and considered it 1/3 of the game. If Fleck has one weakness it is probably this. It was one of Kill's greatest strengths. We'll see how Fleck responds but it's not just the kicking that stinks, it's the entire thing. New special teams coach is in order.

 

[CoMn]

And if we made our kicks against Iowa we would have had 4 more points and probably would have kicked on instead of failing on a 4th down attempt. The difference in that game. If we had made the kicks and attempted the other field goal (which we would probably have done if we'd made the previous kicks) then we'd be West Champs, headed to the Rose Bowl at 11-1 and our game against Iowa would have been relatively meaningless.