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The last time every SEC team scored a special teams touchdown
By Will Ogburn
Published:
Special teams are random in nature. The smallest thing can be the difference: a missed assignment, a skillful juke, an explosive athlete, and six point can happen in the blink of an eye. Some teams struggle to perfect this combination of skills. Others rely on it to supplement their game plan.
Last year, the clear winner when it came to kickoffs was Evan Berry and the Tennessee Volunteers. Berry led the NCAA in kick return touchdowns (3) and average (38.3).
Likewise, Alabama’s Cyrus Jones ruled punt returns. His four scores paced the SEC, and tied for second in NCAA history for a single season.
Things were less fortunate for the Kentucky Wildcats, who saw their special teams drought extend for another season. Mark Stoops is now the longest tenured member of the SEC East, and yet he has yet to see one of his teams break the plane on special teams.
Here’s a look at the last time each SEC team returned a kickoff or punt for a touchdown.
Alabama
The Tide brought another title home to Tuscaloosa in 2015, and though defense has been their identity, this was Nick Saban’s best year to date in the return game. Last season Alabama set a school record with six special teams touchdowns, including five via the punt return. In addition to four scores from the prolific Cyrus Jones, Minkah Fitzpatrick scored on his only attempt at fielding a punt. In typical Alabama fashion, the Tide waited until the biggest moment to score their first kickoff – a 95-yard scamper by Kenyan Drake to answer a Clemson touchdown in the national championship game.
Arkansas
The mighty Joe Adams holds his share of special plays in the minds of Arkansas fans, and he still accounts for the school’s last punt return TD. It was a 51-yarder against Kansas State in the January 2012 Cotton Bowl, back when the SEC still had 12 teams and Arkansas did things like make the Cotton Bowl.
Last season was a year without a special teams score for the Razorbacks, but fans need only to go back to Sept. 20, 2014 to find their last kickoff return touchdown. That’s when Korliss Marshall took the opening kick 97 yards to set the tone against Northern Illinois.
Auburn
The Tigers were shut out in 2015, meaning that Quan Bray’s 76-yard punt return TD against Louisiana Tech on Sept. 27, 2014 was the last of its kind. As for kickoffs, that dates to 2013 when Corey Grant took one to the house on November 9th against Tennessee. Although technically neither a punt nor kickoff return, everybody remembers the greatest return in Tigers history: Chris Davis’ Kick Six in the 2013 Iron Bowl.
Florida
The Gators also had a big year in the return game, led by the dynamic Antonio Callaway, who landed with his second punt return score of the year on Dec. 5 in the SEC title game against Alabama. Solomon Patton scored the teams last kick return touchdown on Dec. 19, 2013 in a loss at Missouri.
Georgia
The Georgia Bulldogs were a huge home run threat in 2015, particularly in the punt return game. Joining Alabama and Tennessee as the only SEC teams with multiple players scoring via the punt return, both Isaiah McKenzie and Reggie Davis crossed the goal line for the Bulldogs. McKenzie’s 53-yarder against Auburn on Nov. 14, his second of the year, is Georgia’s most recent.
McKenzie’s 90-yard kickoff return TD against Kentucky in on Nov. 8, 2014 is the last of its kind.
Kentucky
UK’s scoreless streak added another year in 2015, giving the Wildcats the longest drought for both kickoff and punt return TDs.
How long? Well, the last punt return TD came on Sept. 11, 2010, from Randall Cobb, who was coached by Joker Phillips. Cobb has three return touchdowns since then for the Packers. Almost a year before that, Derrick Lock crossed the goal line on Sept. 19, 2009, representing UK’s last kickoff return touchdown.
LSU
Tre’Davious White’s 69-yard punt return score against Syracuse on Sept. 26 was the Tigers’ only special teams score of 2015. That means that Leonard Fournette’s 100-yard cannonball run during the 2014 Music City Bowl would be the last kickoff return for the Tigers.
Mississippi State
Brandon Holloway started 2015 with a bang by returning a kick 100 yards Sept. 5 against Southern Miss. Dan Mullen’s squad joined Alabama and Tennessee as the only SEC teams to return a punt and a kick for a score in 2015 when Fred Ross went the distance Dec. 10 against Troy.
Missouri
Mizzou has the strangest punt return by far on this list. It came on a surprise pooch kick vs Southeast Missouri State on Sept 5. Kentrell Brothers blocked it right into the hands of Aarion Penton, who went 41 yards for the score.
Marcus Murphy not only has the distinction of returning a kickoff and punt in the same game, but also of being Mizzou’s last player to return a kick for a score period when he did so Oct. 18, 2014 against Florida.
Ole Miss
The Rebels failed to score in the return game in 2015, meaning their last kickoff was brought back by Jaylen Walton on Sept. 15, 2012 against Texas. A year later, Jeff Scott gave the Longhorns a taste of SEC speed, bringing back a 73-yard punt Sept. 13, 2013.
South Carolina
Freshman DB Rashad Fenton scored on a kickoff in his first college game, going 96 yards against LSU. What’s more incredible: This was the Gamecocks’ first return since 2002, and it came Oct. 10, three days before Steve Spurrier stepped down. That means Spurrier was one game from never having a kick return TD at South Carolina.
SC’s last punt return was a 63-yarder by Ace Sanders in the January 2013 Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day.
Tennessee
The Vols rewrote the history books in 2015, thanks to not one, not two, but three different dangerous return men. Evan Berry paced the NCAA with three kick return TDs, the last of which came on Oct. 31 against Kentucky. Meanwhile, Cameron Sutton had two punt return TDs, with the most recent coming in the Nov. 28 regular season finale against Vanderbilt. Alvin Kamara added another punt return TD for good measure.
Texas A&M
Christian Kirk showed his explosiveness with two punt return touchdowns in 2015, most recently on Oct. 17 against Alabama. Kirk was only a freshman last year, meaning that he’ll be entertaining Aggie fans for years to come. Kickoffs are a different story, however, as their drought extends into the Big 12 days. It was Coryell Judie on November 13, 2010 against Baylor that last crossed the plane for the Aggies.
Vanderbilt
Last season was not friendly to the Vanderbilt special teams, as the unit failed to score. It was under the James Franklin administration that the last punt return went for six, an 83-yarder by Jonathan Krause on Nov. 24, 2012. The last kickoff return wasn’t so long ago, as a 100-yarder for Darius Sims against South Carolina on Sept. 20, 2014.
A former resident of both Baton Rouge and the heart of Crimson Tide country, Will Ogburn handles multimedia content and news coverage for Saturday Down South.
