Special teams often go under-appreciated, but they can affect a game in a number of ways. As a result, Saturday Down South is giving the SECs special teamers the credit they deserve in the weekly Special Teams Index.

KICKOFFS

Tennessee still ranks 1st in the FBS in yards per kick return at 38.1, which is nearly eight yards better than the next-best team in Michigan (30.7). The Vols are also just one of five teams with 3 punt return TDs on the season. However, UT is only averaging 2.0 kick returns per game, tied for 10th-fewest in the FBS.

Auburn is 2nd in the SEC in kick return average at 28 yards per game. It’ll face an Alabama team that ranks 4th in defending them (18.2) this week in the Iron Bowl.

Meanwhile, Florida faces a Florida State coverage unit that ranks 2nd only to Wisconsin among Power 5 teams (16.1 yards).

Missouri resides on the other end of the spectrum in both regards. The Tigers are last among Power 5 teams in kick returning and 2nd-worst only to Arizona State in kickoff coverage.

Here’s a complete rundown of every SEC team’s numbers on kickoff returns and in kickoff coverage this season:

TEAM YARDS PER RETURN KICKOFF RETURNS RETURN TDs
1. Tennessee 38.1 22 3
2. Auburn 28.0 32 0
3. South Carolina 24.1 29 1
4. Kentucky 22.1 27 0
5. Mississippi State 21.2 30 1
6. Florida 20.9 22 0
7. Arkansas 20.5 30 0
8. Texas A&M 20.5 27 0
9. Vanderbilt 19.4 34 0
10. Alabama 18.6 28 0
11. LSU 18.0 30 0
12. Georgia 17.8 31 0
13. Ole Miss 17.1 28 0
14. Missouri 15.3 34 0
TEAM YARDS PER RETURN ALLOWED OPP. RETURNS RETURN TDS ALLOWED
1. Texas A&M 17.5 34 0
2. Tennessee 17.8 37 0
3. Mississippi State 17.9 39 0
4. Alabama 18.2 34 0
5. Ole Miss 19.0 36 0
6. South Carolina 19.1 15 0
7. Vanderbilt 19.5 26 0
8. Florida 20 23 0
9. Arkansas 20.9 50 1
10. Auburn 21.2 15 0
11. Georgia 21.3 39 0
12. Kentucky 21.4 42 1
13. LSU 22.2 43 1
14. Missouri 27 22 0

PUNTS

Alabama became the first and only FBS team this season to take four punts back to the house just a week after Georgia became the only FBS team to take three back. The Bulldogs are the only other team in the country with at least 3 punt return TDs.

Alabama’s never had a player return two punts for touchdowns in the same game since beginning to keep records in 1944, but Cyrus Jones accomplished that with his 43-yarder and 72-yarder against Charleston Southern.

Punt returns could be a major factor this week as three of the top five teams in punt return average (Texas A&M, Tennessee and Alabama) all face teams ranked in the bottom five in the conference. The Aggies (19.7) face an LSU team that ranks dead last in the league (18.9) while 2nd-ranked Tennessee faces 11th-ranked Vanderbilt and 4th-ranked Alabama faces 13th-ranked Auburn.

Here’s a full rundown of every SEC team’s numbers on punt returns and in punt coverage this season:

TEAM YARDS PER PUNT RETURN PUNT RETURNS RETURN TDs
1. Texas A&M 19.7 19 2
2. Tennessee 17.0 26 2
3. Arkansas 16.5 11 0
4. Alabama 14.3 32 4
5. Florida 13.1 27 1
6. Georgia 12.8 28 3
7. Mississippi State 11.8 17 1
8. LSU 9.4 16 1
9. Auburn 8.0 8 0
10. Kentucky 7.4 11 0
11. Missouri 6.4 23 1
12. Vanderbilt 6.2 29 0
13. South Carolina 4.58 12 0
14. Ole Miss 4.19 26 0
TEAM YARDS PER PUNT RETURN ALLOWED OPP. RETURNS RETURN TDS ALLOWED
1. Florida 3.5 21 0
2. Ole Miss 5.9 15 0
3. Missouri 7.5 23 0
4. Alabama 7.6 18 1
5. South Carolina 8.1 10 0
6. Georgia 8.2 17 1
7. Arkansas 8.5 13 0
8. Kentucky 9.3 20 1
9. Texas A&M 9.7 17 0
10. Tennessee 11.7 17 1
11. Vanderbilt 13.3 26 1
12. Mississippi State 15.6 8 1
13. Auburn 16.8 5 1
14. LSU 18.9 11 1

INDIVIDUALS

Evan Berry’s return average of 39.6 is still far and away the best in the FBS by at least six yards. However, he did get some company in terms of kick return TDs. Entering last week, he and Rutgers junior Janarion Grant were the only two players with 3 kick return TDs, but Duke’s DeVon Edwards and Kansas State’s Morgan Burns have made room for themselves on top of that list.

Meanwhile, Texas A&M freshman Christian Kirk also comfortably leads the conference in punt return yardage by at least six yards with his average of 24.4. As mentioned above, he has a favorable matchup this week against LSU and it’s average of 18.9. The only FBS team allowing more yards per punt return is Bowling Green (19.3).

Here’s a full rundown of the SEC’s best individual kickoff and punt returners this season:

NAME TEAM YARDS PER KICK RETURN KICK RETURNS TDS
1. Evan Berry Tennessee 39.6 20 3
2. Johnathan Ford Auburn 28.7 14 0
3. Kerryon Johnson Auburn 27.7 13 0
4. Brandon Holloway Mississippi State 24.3 19 1
5. Shon Carson South Carolina 23.8 13 0
NAME TEAM YARDS PER PUNT RETURN PUNT RETURNS TDS
1. Christian Kirk Texas A&M 24.4 14 2
2. Cameron Sutton Tennessee 17.2 20 1
3. Antonio Callaway Florida 14.9 23 1
4. Cyrus Jones Alabama 14.4 28 3
5. Isaiah McKenzie Georgia 12.1 15 2

Trent Domingue finally saw his run of perfection end last week against Ole Miss, and it came in rather stunning fashion. Domingue missed an easy 27-yarder with three minutes left in the first quarter. He rebounded by making a 43-yarder in the third quarter to bring him to 11-for-12 on the season.

Amazingly, Texas A&M senior Drew Kaser and Tennessee’s Trevor Daniel were not nominated as finalists for the Ray Guy Award given to the college punter of the year despite being among the leaders in average yards per punt for most of the season. Kaser, specifically had been leading the FBS for most of the season.

Here’s a breakdown of the top individual kickers and punters in the country.

NAME TEAM FG PERCENTAGE FG MADE FG ATTEMPTED
1. Trent Domingue LSU 91.7% 11 12
2. Daniel Carlson Auburn 87% 20 23
3. Gary Wunderlich Ole Miss 84.2% 16 19
4. Austin MacGinnis Kentucky 81.3% 13 16
5. Westin Graves Mississippi State 80% 12 15
NAME TEAM YARDS PER PUNT PUNTS
1. Drew Kaser Texas A&M 47.5 47
2. Trevor Daniel Tennessee 45.6 55
3. Johnny Townsend Florida 43.8 62
4. Sean Kelly South Carolina 43.7 50
5. Corey Fatony Missouri 43.2 73