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Special Teams Index: Gamecocks win with special teams in Swamp
By Ethan Levine
Published:
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.
BLOCKED KICKS/PUNTS
South Carolina blocked a field goal and a punt in the final four minutes of play against Florida last week, using the blocks to rally and force overtime in the Swamp. The Gamecocks eventually stole a win in overtime thanks to its late-game brilliance on special teams.
Brison Williams was the man to block a field goal attempt by Florida’s Francisco Velez that would have made it a two-score game with little time remaining. Carlton Heard blocked Kyle Christy’s punt on the following possession to set up South Carolina’s game-tying score.
The Gamecocks now have four blocked kicks this season, tied with Mississippi State for the most of any team in the SEC.
KICKOFFS
There were no kickoffs returned for touchdowns during Week 12 action in the SEC, and most teams saw their average yards per return drop following last weekend’s games.
Arkansas remains the SEC’s leader in kickoff return average at 25.2 yards per return, but Missouri is close behind at 24.9 yards per return. The Hogs actually gained ground on the Tigers by a whopping 0.2 yards per return, or one yard every five returns. Needless to say, these two teams are relatively even when it comes to proficiency in the return game, although Missouri does have two return touchdowns on kickoffs this year to the Razorbacks’ one.
On the other end of the spectrum, Florida suffered the greatest drop in its kickoff return average in what turned out to be its worst all-around special teams performance of the season. The Gators returned four kickoffs in a loss to South Carolina and allowed their average to drop from 19.8 yards per kickoff return to just 18.2 yards per return.
Florida also fell to the bottom of the conference in kickoff coverage, although it did see a drop in its yards allowed average from 24.6 yards per return to 24.1. Nevertheless, Florida is one of only five SEC teams to allow a kickoff return for a touchdown this season, and of the other four only Alabama has clinched bowl eligibility through 12 weeks this season, giving you an idea of the company Florida is keeping on special teams this year.
Here’s a complete rundown of every SEC team’s numbers on kickoff returns and in kickoff coverage this season:
| Team | Kickoff Returns | Yards per Return | Return TDs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Arkansas | 20 | 25.2 | 1 |
| 2. Missouri | 19 | 24.9 | 2 |
| 3. LSU | 22 | 24.6 | 0 |
| 4. Tennessee | 27 | 24.3 | 0 |
| 5. Georgia | 25 | 23.8 | 2 |
| 6. Texas A&M | 41 | 23.3 | 0 |
| 7. Kentucky | 35 | 23.1 | 0 |
| 8. Alabama | 32 | 22.3 | 0 |
| 9. Vanderbilt | 45 | 21.0 | 2 |
| 10. Mississippi State | 23 | 20.2 | 1 |
| 11. Auburn | 26 | 19.7 | 0 |
| 12. South Carolina | 31 | 19.2 | 0 |
| 13. Ole Miss | 18 | 18.4 | 0 |
| 14. Florida | 32 | 18.2 | 0 |
| Team | Opp. Returns | Yards per Return Allowed | Return TDs Allowed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Mississippi State | 45 | 17.9 | 0 |
| 2. Texas A&M | 28 | 18.3 | 0 |
| 3. Tennessee | 44 | 19.4 | 0 |
| T4. Ole Miss | 39 | 20.2 | 0 |
| T4. Georgia | 46 | 20.2 | 0 |
| 6. LSU | 22 | 20.7 | 0 |
| 7. Vanderbilt | 25 | 22.0 | 0 |
| 8. Alabama | 45 | 22.2 | 1 |
| 9. Missouri | 24 | 22.5 | 0 |
| 10. Kentucky | 36 | 22.5 | 2 |
| 11. Auburn | 24 | 23.1 | 0 |
| 12. South Carolina | 26 | 23.7 | 2 |
| 13. Arkansas | 40 | 24.0 | 1 |
| 14. Florida | 32 | 24.1 | 1 |
PUNTS
The Gators have been much better when it comes to returning punts, thanks in large part to Andre Debose’s long punt return earlier this season which inflated the team’s return stats significantly.
Auburn experienced the same inflation from Quan Bray’s two punt return touchdowns in the first month of the season, and the Tigers have posted the best punt return average in the SEC ever since despite returning fewer punts than every SEC team except Vanderbilt.
The Commodores are the only team ranked in the bottom half of the SEC in return average to have a punt return touchdown on the season, meaning aside from that touchdown (run back by Darrius Sims earlier this year) the Commodores have been among the worst in the SEC when it comes to returning punts.
Texas A&M, on the other hand, is the only team ranked in the top half of the conference in punt return average that hasn’t returned a punt for a touchdown this season. The Aggies have returned 20 punts an average of 13.6 yards per return, and without a touchdown to inflate that number it could be argued they’ve been the best punt return unit in the SEC in terms of consistency.
Only four SEC teams have allowed punt return touchdowns against them this season, and only one team (Kentucky) has allowed multiple touchdowns on punt returns this season.
Tennessee and Ole Miss continue to lead the SEC as the only two teams allowing fewer than four yards per punt return, while three more teams, including those pesky Gators, are allowing more than 10 yards per return this season.
Here’s a full rundown of every SEC team’s numbers on punt returns and in punt coverage this season:
| Team | Punt Returns | Yards per Return | Return TDs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Auburn | 15 | 18.2 | 2 |
| T2. Florida | 19 | 13.6 | 1 |
| T2. Texas A&M | 20 | 13.6 | 0 |
| 4. Missouri | 21 | 13.1 | 1 |
| 5. Georgia | 26 | 12.1 | 2 |
| 6. LSU | 24 | 11.0 | 1 |
| 7. Alabama | 16 | 10.4 | 0 |
| 8. Kentucky | 24 | 7.5 | 0 |
| 9. Arkansas | 19 | 7.3 | 0 |
| 10. Vanderbilt | 14 | 7.1 | 1 |
| 11. Ole Miss | 20 | 6.4 | 0 |
| 12. Tennessee | 18 | 6.3 | 0 |
| 13. South Carolina | 13 | 6.0 | 0 |
| 14. Mississippi State | 21 | 4.5 | 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. Arkansas | 13 | 4.4 | 0 |
| 4. Georgia | 10 | 4.7 | 0 |
| 5. Vanderbilt | 19 | 5.3 | 1 |
| 6. Mississippi State | 12 | 6.3 | 0 |
| 7. Missouri | 16 | 7.1 | 0 |
| 8. Alabama | 10 | 7.3 | 0 |
| 9. South Carolina | 12 | 7.5 | 0 |
| 10. Auburn | 15 | 8.0 | 0 |
| 11. Texas A&M | 11 | 8.5 | 0 |
| 12. Florida | 18 | 10.0 | 1 |
| 13. LSU | 18 | 10.7 | 1 |
| 14. Kentucky | 17 | 13.7 | 2 |
INDIVIDUALS
Sims leads the SEC in kickoff return average thanks to his pair of touchdowns against South Carolina earlier this season, and Kentucky’s Boom Williams transcends the Wildcats faltering special teams by averaging nearly 27 yards per return himself.
Texas A&M has two players ranked in the top 5 in kickoff return average, forcing opponents to either boom kickoffs out of the end zone or to pooch kick in order to avoid the dangerous tandem of Speedy Noil and Trey Williams.
Noil also appears in the top 5 in punt return average with more than 13.6 yards per return, and he’s the only player in the top 5 without a return touchdown this season. Bray leads the SEC in punt return average, and he and Georgia’s Isaiah McKenzie are the only players in the conference with multiple punt return touchdowns on the season.
Here’s a full rundown of the SEC’s best individual kickoff and punt returners this season:
| Name | Team | Kickoff Returns | Yards per Return | Touchdowns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Darrius Sims | Vanderbilt | 21 | 28.6 | 2 |
| 2. Boom Williams | Kentucky | 19 | 26.9 | 0 |
| T3. Christion Jones | Alabama | 24 | 25.0 | 0 |
| T3. Speedy Noil | Texas A&M | 21 | 25.0 | 0 |
| 5. Trey Williams | Texas A&M | 13 | 24.5 | 0 |
| Name | Team | Punt Returns | Yards per Return | Touchdowns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Quan Bray | Auburn | 13 | 18.6 | 2 |
| 2. Andre Debose | Florida | 17 | 15.2 | 1 |
| 3. Isaiah McKenzie | Georgia | 16 | 14.1 | 2 |
| 4. Speedy Noil | Texas A&M | 13 | 13.6 | 0 |
| 5. Marcus Murphy | Missouri | 21 | 13.1 | 1 |
Despite their struggles on special teams in Week 12, the Gators’ Francisco Velez remains the SEC’s most accurate kicker, while Florida punter Kyle Christy is fourth in the conference in yards per punt. The blocked field goal marked Velez’s second miss all season, maintaining a promising 85.7 percent success rate on field goals in 2014.
The only other SEC kicker making at least 80 percent of his field goals is Texas A&M’s Josh Lambo, who has also missed just twice this year but has also attempted two fewer kicks than Velez on the season.
Georgia’s Marshall Moregan is back in the top 5 in field goal accuracy, overcoming some midseason struggles to raise his success rate to 76.9 percent on the year.
JK Scott, Jamie Keehn and Drew Kaser continue to lead the SEC in punting ahead of Christy, and Ole Miss punter Will Gleeson replaces Mississippi State punter Devon Bell in the top 5 in yards per punt even though Ole Miss was on a bye last week. Bell allowed his average to drop by 1.1 yards per punt in a loss to Alabama, dropping him to sixth in the SEC.
Florida, Texas A&M and LSU all have both their kicker and punter in the top 5 in the SEC in those respective categories.
Here’s a complete rundown of the SEC’s best place kickers and punters this season:
| Name | Team | Field Goals Made | Field Goals Attempted | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Francisco Velez | Florida | 12 | 14 | 85.7 |
| 2. Josh Lambo | Texas A&M | 11 | 13 | 84.6 |
| 3. Tommy Openshaw | Vanderbilt | 7 | 9 | 77.8 |
| T4. Marshall Morgan | Georgia | 10 | 13 | 76.9 |
| T4. Colby Delahoussaye | LSU | 10 | 13 | 76.9 |
| Name | Team | Punts | Yards Per Punt |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. JK Scott | Alabama | 43 | 46.8 |
| 2. Jamie Keehn | LSU | 66 | 45.0 |
| 3. Drew Kaser | Texas A&M | 51 | 44.4 |
| 4. Kyle Christy | Florida | 49 | 44.0 |
| 5. Will Gleeson | Ole Miss | 41 | 43.7 |
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.
