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Author Topic: Eric Russell makes a case for how special teams lost the Florida game  (Read 3954 times)
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ReVOLver
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« on: September 22, 2011, 08:33:29 EDT »

Or at least kept us out of the game.

From VQ

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"You have a blocked punt and the defense plays lights-out and holds them to a field goal, but there's three. You go down and miss a field goal and they go down and get a field goal, so that's a six-point swing and that's nine total. Then we're backed up and we get a short punt and (Chris) Rainey returns it to the 30 and they get another field goal. That's 12 (points) in a 10 point game," Russell said.

"As bad as we played, as much better they played than us in all phases, you eliminate those and maybe it's a different fourth quarter and our guys have to understand that. That's their job and it's my job to get that stuff right and to get them thinking in those type of terms and how their play does affect the next play."
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« Reply #1 on: September 22, 2011, 09:34:39 EDT »

At least they can see it.
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crockettman
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« Reply #2 on: September 23, 2011, 02:28:09 EDT »

Not to mention the fact that we couldnt even kick off past the 10 yrd line when we did score...
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« Reply #3 on: September 23, 2011, 04:15:02 EDT »

Not to mention the fact that we couldnt even kick off past the 10 yrd line when we did score...

You keep dwelling on that, and it is important, but their average starting position after kickoffs was only at the 24.  That is worse than the 20 from a touchback, but not by much.  Actually only one kick failed to get inside the 10, while one was right at the 10.   

Here is the total summary

Kickoff to start game - 69 yards to the 1, returned to the 20
Kickoff after first TD - 58 yards to the 12, returned to the 35
Kickoff after second TD - 67 yards to the 3, returned to the 20, BUT an illegal block put it back to the 10
Kickoff after the FG - 60 yards to the 10, returned 15 to the 25
Kickoff after the third TD - 69 yards to the 1, returned 31 to the 32

There is room for improvement, but on the possessions where Florida got past the 20 (3 of the 5) they also failed to score.  I really don't think it was as bad as you seem to think.
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« Reply #4 on: September 23, 2011, 12:34:33 EDT »

You keep dwelling on that, and it is important, but their average starting position after kickoffs was only at the 24.  That is worse than the 20 from a touchback, but not by much.  Actually only one kick failed to get inside the 10, while one was right at the 10.   

Here is the total summary

Kickoff to start game - 69 yards to the 1, returned to the 20
Kickoff after first TD - 58 yards to the 12, returned to the 35
Kickoff after second TD - 67 yards to the 3, returned to the 20, BUT an illegal block put it back to the 10
Kickoff after the FG - 60 yards to the 10, returned 15 to the 25
Kickoff after the third TD - 69 yards to the 1, returned 31 to the 32

There is room for improvement, but on the possessions where Florida got past the 20 (3 of the 5) they also failed to score.  I really don't think it was as bad as you seem to think.

I would agree, though the 2nd was the only bad kick looking at them live.
Three were good kicks with good heigth and pretty good distance.  Where your stats do shine is our coverage unit (of which the kick hang time is a key factor).  Our lane discipline has bee very good this year.  On the last I think we missed a tckle that allowed some extra yards but for the great majority of our kicks the coverage has been excellent, average return has beenslightly less than 18 yards (we have averaged 23).  For further reference punt returns against us have averaged a little under 6 yards (our punt returns average only 4.5).

All that being said, I'm not unhappy with our kickoffs. kick and punt coverage.  We really need to improve punt returns and there is an overall lack of aggresiveness on KO returns. 
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« Reply #5 on: September 24, 2011, 12:35:53 EDT »

I would agree, though the 2nd was the only bad kick looking at them live.
Three were good kicks with good heigth and pretty good distance.  Where your stats do shine is our coverage unit (of which the kick hang time is a key factor).  Our lane discipline has bee very good this year.  On the last I think we missed a tckle that allowed some extra yards but for the great majority of our kicks the coverage has been excellent, average return has beenslightly less than 18 yards (we have averaged 23).  For further reference punt returns against us have averaged a little under 6 yards (our punt returns average only 4.5).

All that being said, I'm not unhappy with our kickoffs. kick and punt coverage.  We really need to improve punt returns and there is an overall lack of aggresiveness on KO returns. 

Agree with all points.
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crockettman
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« Reply #6 on: September 24, 2011, 03:31:46 EDT »

You keep dwelling on that, and it is important, but their average starting position after kickoffs was only at the 24.  That is worse than the 20 from a touchback, but not by much.  Actually only one kick failed to get inside the 10, while one was right at the 10.    

Here is the total summary

Kickoff to start game - 69 yards to the 1, returned to the 20
Kickoff after first TD - 58 yards to the 12, returned to the 35
Kickoff after second TD - 67 yards to the 3, returned to the 20, BUT an illegal block put it back to the 10
Kickoff after the FG - 60 yards to the 10, returned 15 to the 25
Kickoff after the third TD - 69 yards to the 1, returned 31 to the 32

There is room for improvement, but on the possessions where Florida got past the 20 (3 of the 5) they also failed to score.  I really don't think it was as bad as you seem to think.

I keep dwelling on it because it bit us in the ass many times last year and is still happening,the only difference is that the coverage has been better so far this year but all it takes is one guy to be out of his lane and oops there goes another game..That being said having two kickoffs that dont go past the 10 yrd line at a program like UT is unacceptable,I remember when we had guys that would kick it through the endzone,now we cant even find it giving our opponents the ball at the 35 or better every other posession will cost us games
« Last Edit: September 24, 2011, 03:50:24 EDT by crockettman » Logged
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« Reply #7 on: September 24, 2011, 05:00:10 EDT »

I keep dwelling on it because it bit us in the ass many times last year and is still happening,the only difference is that the coverage has been better so far this year but all it takes is one guy to be out of his lane and oops there goes another game..That being said having two kickoffs that dont go past the 10 yrd line at a program like UT is unacceptable,I remember when we had guys that would kick it through the endzone,now we cant even find it giving our opponents the ball at the 35 or better every other posession will cost us games

You do realize that they kick off from the 30 now, and not the 35?  Which could explain why we used to kick it through the end zone more?  With that in mind, 3 of our 5 kicks would have been in the end zone under the old rules.  The kicking game can be improved, but it's hardly as bad as you seem to think IMO. 

I do hear you about not repeating the mistakes of last year though.  That's why I didn't want Devrin Young to return kicks against Florida.   But so far, our kick coverage has been much better, as you point out.  Let's hope that continues.  I would also like to see Palardy do a bit better at extending his kickoff range, and we can hope that he is just young and will continue to deveop.  Having said that, the kicking game was not even close to one of the top reasons we lost to Florida, and IMO we have much more pressing problems.
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« Reply #8 on: September 24, 2011, 05:27:20 EDT »

I keep dwelling on it because it bit us in the ass many times last year and is still happening,the only difference is that the coverage has been better so far this year but all it takes is one guy to be out of his lane and oops there goes another game..That being said having two kickoffs that dont go past the 10 yrd line at a program like UT is unacceptable,I remember when we had guys that would kick it through the endzone,now we cant even find it giving our opponents the ball at the 35 or better every other posession will cost us games
So, an average return of 21 yards, for an average starting position at the 26 (not counting the penalty) and the sky is falling?  Pardon me but that is so much hog wash!.  The kicking game is far, far, far more than just trying to kick it into the endzone.  What has improvedTREMENDOUSLY has been our kick coverage.  Our lane discipline I would put up against any specail teams unit in the country.  Hell, under Lame and the later years of Coach Fulmer it was terrible, especially considering one of the worst offenders of lane discipline failure (leading to two TDs) was Eric Berry.

I got a news flash for you, ANY team that has a failure in lane discipline is subject to a big return.  Hell, even Saturday, after a missed tackle the COVERAGE prevented a longer return, against a good retun man.
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All men dream: but not equally.
Those who Dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds
Wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the
Dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they
May act their dream with open eyes, to make it Possible.
This I did.
—T. E. Lawrence,
The Seven Pillars of Wisdom
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"If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn't plan your mission properly." - David Hackworth

"Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet"
General James "Mad Dog" Mattis
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