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Special Teams Index: McNeely’s score inspires Florida to win over UGA
By Ethan Levine
Published:
Special teams often go under-appreciated, but they can affect a game in a number of ways. Beginning this week, Saturday Down South is giving the SECs special teamers the credit they deserve in the weekly Special Teams Index.
‘SPECIAL’ SPECIAL TEAMERS
The Special Teams Index is often broken down by kickoffs, punts, individual returners, field goals and individual punters. However, before diving into this week’s Index, let’s highlight one critical special teams play that fits none of the aforementioned categories.
In Florida’s stunning upset of Georgia last weekend, the Gators scored their first touchdown early in the second quarter on a fake field goal run in for a touchdown by holder Michael McNeely, tying the game at 7-7 at the time. Georgia had controlled the game to that point but the fake inspired Florida to outscore Georgia 31-13 from that point on, eventually winning the game 38-20.
McNeely’s touchdown was the first of his career, and it caused his teammates to become emotional after the game in reacting to the play. It is arguably the special teams play of the year to this point in the season, which is why it is being highlighted this week.
Now, without further ado, here’s this week’s Special Teams Index:
KICKOFFS
The Arkansas Razorbacks have posted the SEC’s best kickoff return numbers this season by averaging better than 25 yards per return, but their average actually dropped from last week following a 17-10 loss to Mississippi State. Nevertheless, the Hogs overtook Missouri as the SEC leader after Mizzou also saw its kickoff return average drop last week in a 20-10 win over the Kentucky Wildcats.
Mizzou and Vanderbilt remain the only two teams in the SEC with multiple kickoffs returned for touchdowns, thanks to the Tigers’ Marcus Murphy and the Commodores’ Darrius Sims, who both lead all individual kickoff returners in yards per return this season.
Ole Miss continues to trail the rest of the conference in kickoff return average at just 18.2 yards per return, making them one of three teams averaging fewer than 20 yards per return this season. The Rebels have returned the second-fewest kickoffs of any team in the conference, leading only in-state rival Mississippi State’s 16 returns on the year.
The Bulldogs do lead the SEC in kickoff coverage, however, allowing opponents just 17.8 yards per return this season. Only one other team in the conference has allowed fewer than 19 yards per return and only four others have allowed fewer than 20 yards per return.
South Carolina trails the rest of the SEC in kickoff coverage, allowing nearly 27 yards per return on the season. No other SEC team has allowed more than 24.5 yards per return this season, and only the Gamecocks have allowed multiple kickoffs returned for touchdowns in 2014.
| Team | Kickoff Returns | Yards per Return | Return TDs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Arkansas | 20 | 25.2 | 1 |
| 2. Missouri | 18 | 25.1 | 2 |
| 3. LSU | 19 | 25.0 | 0 |
| 4. Tennessee | 24 | 23.6 | 0 |
| 5. Alabama | 23 | 23.2 | 0 |
| 6. Kentucky | 21 | 23.1 | 0 |
| 7. Georgia | 19 | 23.8 | 1 |
| 8. Texas A&M | 32 | 22.4 | 0 |
| 9. Mississippi State | 16 | 21.6 | 1 |
| 10. Vanderbilt | 39 | 20.4 | 2 |
| 11. Auburn | 18 | 20.2 | 0 |
| 12. South Carolina | 29 | 19.4 | 0 |
| 13. Florida | 25 | 18.6 | 0 |
| 14. Ole Miss | 17 | 18.2 | 0 |
| Team | Opp. Returns | Yards per Return Allowed | Return TDs Allowed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Mississippi State | 34 | 17.8 | 0 |
| 2. Texas A&M | 24 | 18.5 | 0 |
| 3. Tennessee | 37 | 19.0 | 0 |
| 4. Georgia | 34 | 19.2 | 0 |
| 5. LSU | 19 | 19.6 | 0 |
| 6. Missouri | 20 | 20.5 | 0 |
| 7. Ole Miss | 33 | 20.9 | 0 |
| 8. Kentucky | 28 | 21.0 | 1 |
| 9. Vanderbilt | 22 | 21.1 | 0 |
| 10. Alabama | 39 | 22.7 | 1 |
| 11. Auburn | 18 | 22.9 | 0 |
| 12. Arkansas | 39 | 24.0 | 1 |
| 13. Florida | 24 | 24.5 | 1 |
| 14. South Carolina | 22 | 26.8 | 2 |
PUNTS
Auburn continues to lead the SEC in punt return average, but that average remains heavily influenced by Quan Bray’s two punt return touchdowns in 2014. The Tigers have only returned 13 punts all year, but Bray’s pair of touchdowns totaled 131 yards, which makes up 49.6 percent of their punt return yardage on the season.
For context’s sake, six SEC teams have fewer punt return yards than Bray does on those two returns alone, and his 237 total punt return yards are greater than eight teams in the conference. No other team has multiple punt return touchdowns on the season.
Mississippi State and Ole Miss sit at the bottom of the SEC in punt return average, as neither team has averaged even five yards per return this season. Every other team in the conference has averaged at least 6.3 yards per return, and seven of the SEC’s 14 teams have averaged at least 10 yards per return this season.
Vanderbilt has the second-fewest punt returns of any team in the SEC, and its 7.2 yards per punt return is also heavily influenced by Stephen Weatherly’s 26-yard punt return touchdown. Besides Weatherly’s touchdown, the Commodores have 11 punt returns for 57 yards, an average of just more than five yards per return.
Tennesse and Ole Miss are the SEC’s leaders in punt coverage, allowing fewer than four yards per punt return in 2014. The Vols and Rebels have both allowed the most punt returns on the season, making their conference-leading averages even more impressive.
Only four SEC teams have allowed more than 10 yards per punt return this season, three of which have allowed a punt return touchdown this year. The only SEC team to allow a punt return touchdown and still hold teams to fewer than 10 yards per return is Vanderbilt, which allowed a punt return touchdown against Charleston Southern but otherwise has allowed just 85 yards on 16 total punt returns, an average of less than 5.5 yards per return.
| Team | Punt Returns | Yards per Return | Return TDs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Auburn | 13 | 20.6 | 2 |
| 2. Florida | 14 | 18.4 | 1 |
| 3. Texas A&M | 18 | 14.9 | 0 |
| 4. Missouri | 19 | 14.3 | 1 |
| 5. LSU | 20 | 11.8 | 1 |
| 6. Georgia | 24 | 10.7 | 1 |
| 7. Alabama | 16 | 10.4 | 0 |
| 8. Kentucky | 24 | 7.5 | 0 |
| 9. Arkansas | 17 | 7.4 | 0 |
| 10. Vanderbilt | 12 | 7.2 | 1 |
| T11. Tennessee | 15 | 6.3 | 0 |
| T11. South Carolina | 11 | 6.3 | 0 |
| 13. Ole Miss | 16 | 4.6 | 0 |
| 14. Mississippi State | 18 | 4.1 | 0 |
| Team | Opp. Returns | Yards per Return Allowed | Return TDs Allowed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Tennessee | 17 | 3.4 | 0 |
| 2. Ole Miss | 17 | 3.5 | 0 |
| 3. Alabama | 5 | 4.4 | 0 |
| 4. Arkansas | 12 | 4.7 | 0 |
| 5. Georgia | 9 | 5.7 | 0 |
| 6. Vanderbilt | 17 | 6.0 | 1 |
| 7. Mississippi State | 10 | 7.0 | 0 |
| 8. Missouri | 16 | 7.1 | 0 |
| 9. South Carolina | 9 | 9.6 | 0 |
| 10. Auburn | 12 | 9.8 | 0 |
| 11. Texas A&M | 8 | 10.3 | 0 |
| T12. LSU | 16 | 11.2 | 1 |
| T12. Florida | 14 | 11.2 | 1 |
| 14. Kentucky | 13 | 12.0 | 1 |
INDIVIDUALS
Murphy and Sims remain the SEC leaders in kickoff return average due to the fact each player has a pair of return touchdowns on the season. Christion Jones maintained his spot in the top 5 despite Alabama’s week off last weekend, and LSU’s Leonard Fournette slid into the top 5 during LSU’s bye last week after Kentucky’s Boom Williams saw his average drop in a loss to Missouri.
Texas A&M’s Trey Williams rounds out the top 5 with an average of 26.3 yards per return, the most of any player in the SEC without a return touchdown on the season. He did not return a kickoff last week in a win over Louisiana-Monroe, however, meaning Williams, Jones and Fournette all earned spots in the top 5 without a single return between them in Week 10.
| Name | Team | Kickoff Returns | Yards per Return | Touchdowns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Marcus Murphy | Missouri | 11 | 32.9 | 2 |
| 2. Darrius Sims | Vanderbilt | 15 | 30.0 | 2 |
| 3. Trey Williams | Texas A&M | 11 | 26.3 | 0 |
| 4. Christion Jones | Alabama | 17 | 25.1 | 0 |
| 5. Leonard Fournette | LSU | 18 | 23.6 | 0 |
Bray has the best punt return average of any player in the SEC, although Florida’s Andre Debose has closed the gap tremendously, averaging just 1.9 fewer yards per punt return than Bray. Debose, Murphy and LSU’s Tre’Davious White all have one punt return touchdown on the season, helping them earn spots in the top 5 in the SEC behind Bray. Murphy is the only player in the SEC who ranks in the top 5 in kickoff return average and punt return average in 2014.
Perhaps the most impressive member of the top 5 is Texas A&M freshman Speedy Noil, who has the third-best return average in the conference despite not returning a punt for a touchdown this season. He’s third in the conference in yards per return and is tied for the fewest returns of any player in the top 5, indicating his has been the most consistently explosive returner in the SEC despite the lack of a special teams touchdown this season.
| Name | Team | Punt Returns | Yards per Return | Touchdowns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Quan Bray | Auburn | 11 | 21.6 | 2 |
| 2. Andre Debose | Florida | 13 | 19.7 | 1 |
| 3. Speedy Noil | Texas A&M | 11 | 15.9 | 0 |
| 4.Marcus Murphy | Missouri | 19 | 14.3 | 1 |
| 5. Tre’Davious White | LSU | 19 | 12.0 | 1 |
South Carolina’s Elliott Fry had been the SEC’s most accurate kicker this season with 12 consecutive made field goals dating back to a Week 1 loss to Texas A&M. However, a pair of misses in a loss to Tennessee last week dropped him to fourth in the SEC in accuracy, although two of his three misses this season have come from beyond 50 yards (his career-long is 45 yards).
Florida’s Francisco Velez is now the SEC’s most accurate kicker with nine makes in 10 attempts this season. Velez and Fry are two of four kickers to make at least 80 percent of their kicks this season, along with LSU’s Colby Delahoussaye and Texas A&M’s Josh Lambo. However, Delahoussaye and Lambo have both attempted fewer than 10 kicks on the year, something only one other full-time SEC kicker can claim (Vanderbilt’s Tommy Openshaw, who has eight attempts on the season).
| Name | Team | Field Goals Made | Field Goals Attempted | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Francisco Velez | Florida | 9 | 10 | 90.0 |
| T2. Colby Delahoussaye | LSU | 8 | 9 | 88.9 |
| 3. Josh Lambo | Texas A&M | 7 | 8 | 87.5 |
| 4. Elliott Fry | South Carolina | 12 | 15 | 80.0 |
| 5. Daniel Carlson | Auburn | 10 | 13 | 76.9 |
The SEC’s top 3 punters in terms of yards per punt remained the same from last week, and the top two — Alabama’s JK Scott and LSU’s Jamie Keehn — didn’t even play last week while their teams enjoyed bye weeks. Florida’s Kyle Christy maintained his spot at No. 3 in the SEC and Texas A&M’s Drew Kaser maintained his standing at No. 5. Christy’s average actually increased by 0.2 yards per punt, while Kaser’s average dropped by 0.3 yards per punt.
New to the top 5 is Mississippi State’s Devon Bell, who directly replaces Ole Miss’ Will Gleeson at No. 4 in the conference. Bell has averaged just a hair below 44 yards per punt this season, and he booted three punts for 122 yards in a win over Arkansas, including a 51-yarder that proved valuable in a low-scoring, field position battle in Starkville.
| Name | Team | Punts | Yards Per Punt |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. JK Scott | Alabama | 27 | 46.6 |
| 2. Jamie Keehn | LSU | 52 | 45.0 |
| 3. Kyle Christy | Florida | 38 | 44.7 |
| 4. Devon Bell | Mississippi State | 31 | 43.9 |
| 5. Drew Kaser | Texas A&M | 43 | 43.8 |
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
