2010 tOSU Special Teams Discussion

[Buckskin86]

It sounds as if RB Jordan Hall will be joining kickoff coverage this week. They love the attitude this guy has, whatever role he plays. Boom Herron will get a chance to cover punts, basically because they think he loves hitting people. No more talk of Jaamal Berry helping in coverage -- it could be an oversight on Fickell's part, or it could be they think Berry has been a bit fragile in the past, so why put him at further risk?

http://blog.dispatch.com/buckeyesblog/2010/09/new_players_on_returns_redzone.shtml

 

[Buckskin86]

Special teams woes

Again, the Buckeyes had a significant breakdown on special teams.

Two, if you count the 99-yard kickoff return by Ohio?s Julian Posey that was called back because of an illegal block.

After getting a field goal blocked and returned for a touchdown against Marshall, and after having both a kick and a punt returned for a touchdown in Week 2 against Miami, Fla., the Buckeyes had a punt blocked on Saturday by Ohio.

The only plus for OSU is the ball wasn?t returned for a touchdown.

?We just flat-out missed a guy on the punt that was blocked,? Tressel said. ?And you can?t do that. Not if you want to win.

The Buckeyes did make a few changes in their kick coverage. Jordan Hall was in on kickoff return coverage, while Dan Herron was on punt return coverage.

The Buckeyes had been victimized by both punt and kick returns in the past two games. Hall and Herron, a pair of running backs, were shifted to coverage units to tighten things up.

?Jordan Hall moved up from the second kickoff unit to the first unit,? Tressel said. ?He?s the one that got blocked in the back (on Julian Posey?s return). But it will be fun to see if he?s going to be a real positive force there.?

http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2010/09/19/sports/doc4c9585113b8c7043929842.txt

 

[Oh8ch]

OU had 191 yards on kick/punt returns not counting the 99 yard run by Posey.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

Several years ago, the prevailing wisdom was that you didn't need to waste scholarships on kicking specialists. Then Bobby Bowden proved that you could lose multiple national championships "wide right".

Maybe it's time for teams to start offering kids to be special teams players only. With only 85 schollies, it's tough to expend them on guys who will see the field so infrequently ... but do we really want to trust our special teams to a bunch of walk-ons and third-stringers?

 

[MaxBuck]

Several years ago, the prevailing wisdom was that you didn't need to waste scholarships on kicking specialists. Then Bobby Bowden proved that you could lose multiple national championships "wide right".

Maybe it's time for teams to start offering kids to be special teams players only. With only 85 schollies, it's tough to expend them on guys who will see the field so infrequently ... but do we really want to trust our special teams to a bunch of walk-ons and third-stringers?

Both Ben Buchanan and Drew Basil were recruited athletes, and neither of them has so far performed well. So where does that leave us?

I'm frankly baffled by our ineptness on special teams; I've never seen a major power in college football look so sorry in this element of the game.

 

[Onebuckfan]

Wisconsin and Iowa both gave up long returns..maybe in those games the return game will even out.

 

[cbrian815]

Several years ago, the prevailing wisdom was that you didn't need to waste scholarships on kicking specialists. Then Bobby Bowden proved that you could lose multiple national championships "wide right".

Maybe it's time for teams to start offering kids to be special teams players only. With only 85 schollies, it's tough to expend them on guys who will see the field so infrequently ... but do we really want to trust our special teams to a bunch of walk-ons and third-stringers?

We must really be bad if the Mods are concerned. This ugly thing showed itself late last year. Still surprised we haven`t fixed it. Don`t see a reason why our starters can`t play on special teams if need be. Go Bucks

 

[buckeyes_rock]

Wisconsin and Iowa both gave up long returns..maybe in those games the return game will even out.

That's the spirit! Always look for the positives.

 

[Steve19]

I think that the kicking game has been a contributor to the let downs on special teams. Ohio State has been spoiled with the best kickers in college football. Moving the kicker back on kickoffs and losing that edge have exposed some opportunities for teams to exploit Ohio State kick coverage.

Reading the comments of our most knowledgeable posters during the games (I still haven't seen the Buckeyes this year), it looks like the Buckeyes need to work on their discipline on coverage, which is fixable. But, if Ohio State can't get a kicker who can kick it out of the end zone at least occasionally, then the opportunity to blow things up is going to be there more than we fans might like.

 

[underoath437]

In terms of kickoff coverage, it would not be nearly the issue if they did not move the kick-off back five yards a few years ago. I cannot remember who it was, but there was a coach who said it would dramatically change the game (or something like that) and it looks like he might be right.

 

[cjmik_75]

Going along with the glaring issues already pointed out I'm also concerned with the lack of explosiveness in the return game vs OU.

After "answering" the returns Miami had last week I was expecting something big from Hall and/or Berry in the return game.:( It's time for guys step and take a leadership role on special teams: take pride in getting this part of the team back to being a strength and not a glaring weakness.

Just for the record, I am not big fan of the spread punt...if theoretically it puts you in better position to cover the kick, well it needs work too. Protection on the block was an obvious missed assignment not just the up-men but the guys on the line didn't get a solid jam on the rushers either.

It's really disappointing to see this with such a talented team especially on the defensive side of the ball. It can be fixed...it needs to be fixed.

 

[WyoBuckeye]

When was the last time that Ohio State had a staff member designated as a special teams and/or kicking coach? How much of the continuing woes on special teams has to do with not having a special teams/kicking coach on the staff? I know the size of the staff is limited and Ohio State has chosen to use their quota in other ways, but a cursory examination of other top programs staffs (USC, Florida, Alabama, Texas) show at least one person who is designated as the special teams coach (to be fair all of the special teams coaches were also listed as a coach for another position too). The strength of Ohio State's special teams was a huge factor in it's success during Tressel's early years. Until I see improvement, I believe special teams are probably going to cost this team a win at some point this season.

 

[Poe McKnoe]

When was the last time that Ohio State had a staff member designated as a special teams and/or kicking coach? How much of the continuing woes on special teams has to do with not having a special teams/kicking coach on the staff? I know the size of the staff is limited and Ohio State has chosen to use their quota in other ways, but a cursory examination of other top programs staffs (USC, Florida, Alabama, Texas) show at least one person who is designated as the special teams coach (to be fair all of the special teams coaches were also listed as a coach for another position too). The strength of Ohio State's special teams was a huge factor in it's success during Tressel's early years. Until I see improvement, I believe special teams are probably going to cost this team a win at some point this season.

Jim Tressel is in charge of special teams. If this trend continues, Jim Bollman is going to stop by and oversee special teams practice.

 

[jlb1705]

Special teams woes

Again, the Buckeyes had a significant breakdown on special teams.

Two, if you count the 99-yard kickoff return by Ohio?s Julian Posey that was called back because of an illegal block.

Pointing to a play that was called back for a penalty - a penalty that occurred against the player in the best position to make a tackle - is stupid. The play technically didn't occur, and was facilitated by the penalty. Besides, you can't have it both ways. You can't make excuses for last week's kickoff return where a block in the back was missed, and then complain the next week about another kickoff return TD that gets called back for that very same block in the back penalty.

Also, concerning OU's kickoff return yards and Ohio State's lack thereof... How many kickoff returns to OU get because Ohio State was scoring at will in the first half? How many kickoffs did Ohio State not receive because they weren't giving up scores? How many punt returns did OSU not get because the defense is creating turnovers instead?

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

Several years ago, the prevailing wisdom was that you didn't need to waste scholarships on kicking specialists. Then Bobby Bowden proved that you could lose multiple national championships "wide right".

Maybe it's time for teams to start offering kids to be special teams players only. With only 85 schollies, it's tough to expend them on guys who will see the field so infrequently ... but do we really want to trust our special teams to a bunch of walk-ons and third-stringers?

I agree to a point. But there are quite a few scholarship players already on special teams. Moving up JHall and Boom to the coverage units should help.