So who do we blame for the special teams decline?

This topic has 20 replies, 17 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 4 months ago by Central Coast Ute.

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- 10/15/2019 at 10:37 AM #108650
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  UTE98
  Participant
  
  A few weeks ago i was going to jokingly call for the termination of our special teams coach. You know, “Fire Ludwig” style. TIC
  
  So what is the cause of Utah’s special teams efficiency being so low?
  
  Not enough FG attempts/makes?
  
  Not enough touchbacks?
  
  Too many returns out to the 30?
  
  Punting just not long enough? Punt coverage?
  
  It doesn’t feel like we’re obviously as good as Gay and Wishnowski, but really sub 100 in efficiency?
  
  Fire the Special Teams coach!!!! TIC
- 10/15/2019 at 10:41 AM #108651
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  ironman1315
  Participant
  
  We’re rebuilding at the special teams position. That’s all there is to it.
- 10/15/2019 at 10:44 AM #108654
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  Utahute72
  Participant
  
  Graduation and the NFL.
- 10/15/2019 at 10:50 AM #108657
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  Sweetness
  Participant
  
  Lennon has been a bit of a disappointment for sure, but he hasn’t been terrible, and we had what seemed to be a very solid kicker on our roster in Chayden Johnston who unexpectedly retired and left us scrambling. I think this will be a temporary blip. Sounds like we got a commit from a very good high school kicker the other day.
  - 10/15/2019 at 11:01 AM #108660
    
    Utahute72
    Participant
    
    You mean the 5 star guy that BYU ignored, told him they couldn’t use him.
  - 10/15/2019 at 6:02 PM #108708
    
    FtheY
    Participant
    
    What commit? I don’t see anything on 247?
- 10/15/2019 at 10:55 AM #108658
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  GameForAnyFuss
  Participant
  
  I blame Andy Phillips, Tom Hackett, and Matt Gay.
  
  Our decline is more like a regression to the mean. We’ve been spoiled by too many years of exceptional special teams.
- 10/15/2019 at 10:55 AM #108659
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  PlainsUte
  Participant
  
  Hardly any one is returning kickoffs any more, partly by design of new rules for player safety. FG kicking is not bad, especially after all the doomsday talk during fall camp. Punt returning has suffered from Covey’s injury and now his stepping aside. Punting: the Utes hardly ever punt, which is a good thing. Punt and Kickoff coverages seem good.
  - 10/15/2019 at 11:27 AM #108662
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    utefansince79
    Participant
    
    Tough act to follow when you’ve recently had multiple national award winners in both punting and place kicking.
    
    It’s curious that we’ve had a few 4th down conversions (some leading to touchdowns) in situations where we would have likely attempted the field goal in previous seasons (like last week when we had 4th and 7 or so from the 30 and instead of the 47 yard FG attempt, threw the TD pass).
    
    Indeed seeing a lot few KO returns in college football now that you can fair catch and take it at the 25.
    - 10/15/2019 at 11:55 AM #108665
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      SalUteopia
      Participant
      
      The problem is you can’t go for 4th and 7 against a team like UW, or even ASU. The short kickoffs have also been bugging me. Someone like Aiyuk is going to make you pay.
  - 10/15/2019 at 11:45 AM #108663
    
    Tony (admin)
    Keymaster
    
    What? Field goal kicking IS bad!
    - 10/15/2019 at 12:33 PM #108667
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      Wilson’s Mustache
      Participant
      
      I disagree, outside of one particularly poor kick by Reding I think he’s been fine.
      - 10/15/2019 at 1:33 PM #108678
        
        PlainsUte
        Participant
        
        …and Strauch had a bad one, but as a result he’s no longer kicking FGs. Confidence in FG kicking is down, leading to going for it on 4th more often as @utefansince79 said.
        
        10/15/2019 at 1:42 PM #108680
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        Wilson’s Mustache
        Participant
        
        4th & 7? Corner fade for a TD y’all!
      - 10/15/2019 at 4:43 PM #108701
        
        Tony (admin)
        Keymaster
        
        We are 7/10 and at least one missed PAT.
- 10/15/2019 at 12:04 PM #108666
  
  stonguse
  Participant
  
  We’ve had good specialists but our special teams has had problems the last few years. Kicks and punts blocked, long snapping failures, and punt return muffs.
- 10/15/2019 at 12:37 PM #108669
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  ayoriver
  Participant
  
  Freshman kicker, freshman punter
- 10/15/2019 at 12:57 PM #108672
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  sweetgrass
  Participant
  
  Ludwig obviously
  
  Fire him.
- 10/15/2019 at 2:26 PM #108684
  
  Charlie
  Participant
  
  No worries, just drifting toward average due to starting over with both kickers, losing the PR guy and not doing much kickoff return. Coverage on kicks could be tightened down but not giving up big plays.
- 10/15/2019 at 3:04 PM #108688
  
  EagleMountainUte
  Participant
  
  Being spoiled by above average play will do that.
  
  Coverage and tackling always makes me nervous. Utah is easy to knock out of their lanes.
- 10/16/2019 at 11:17 AM #108770
  
  Central Coast Ute
  Participant
  
  Hackett and Wishnowski was a result of good recruiting. Other schools have caught on and are now recruiting Aussie punters. Lennon isn’t bad but the Utes aren’t relying on him to flip the field as much because the offense is so much better this year, I blame that on Ludwig.
  
  They caught lightning in a bottle with Phillips and Gay. Both weren’t football players but started kicking and decided to give it a shot. The chances of landing just one like that has got be low, but two back to back? I would think that’s damn near impossible.
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