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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
Michigan closed in on Tennessee’s top overall ranking in average kick return yardage, but the Vols still finished the regular season ranked 1st in the FBS at 33.4, which is five yards better than the Wolverines. The Vols are also just one of four teams in the country with 3 kick return TDs on the season. Amazingly, Tennessee’s 3 TDs are more than the rest of the SEC combined (2) as South Carolina and Mississippi State only managed one apiece.
Auburn is averaging 27.9 yards per return entering bowl season, which is 4th-best in the FBS. However, you won’t find another SEC team in the FBS rankings until you see South Carolina all the way at 29th. The last kickoff return TD came from the Vols on Oct. 31, when Evan Berry took one 100 yards to the house at Kentucky.
Meanwhile, Tennessee also finishes the season 2nd only to Mississippi State in covering kickoffs. That kick return TD allowed by Kentucky was one of only three allowed by SEC teams on the entire season.
Missouri unceremoniously ends 2015 as the worst team in the SEC in returning kicks and defending them.
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 | 33.4 | 27 | 3 |
| 2. Auburn | 27.9 | 33 | 0 |
| 3. South Carolina | 23.4 | 34 | 1 |
| 4. Kentucky | 21.8 | 30 | 0 |
| 5. Mississippi State | 21.3 | 33 | 1 |
| 6. Florida | 20.7 | 24 | 0 |
| 7. Arkansas | 20.5 | 32 | 0 |
| 8. LSU | 19.9 | 32 | 0 |
| 9. Texas A&M | 19.8 | 32 | 0 |
| 10. Vanderbilt | 19.6 | 40 | 0 |
| 11. Alabama | 18.7 | 30 | 0 |
| 12. Georgia | 17.8 | 31 | 0 |
| 13. Ole Miss | 16.9 | 29 | 0 |
| 14. Missouri | 15.1 | 38 | 0 |
| TEAM | YARDS PER RETURN ALLOWED | OPP. RETURNS | RETURN TDS ALLOWED |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Mississippi State | 17.8 | 40 | 0 |
| 2. Tennessee | 18.2 | 43 | 0 |
| 3. Vanderbilt | 18.4 | 31 | 0 |
| 4. Alabama | 18.4 | 35 | 0 |
| 5. South Carolina | 19.1 | 15 | 0 |
| 6. Texas A&M | 19.2 | 36 | 0 |
| 7. Ole Miss | 19.3 | 39 | 0 |
| 8. Florida | 20 | 23 | 0 |
| 9. Arkansas | 20.3 | 54 | 1 |
| 10. Kentucky | 20.8 | 45 | 1 |
| 11. Auburn | 21.1 | 17 | 0 |
| 12. Georgia | 21.1 | 42 | 0 |
| 13. LSU | 21.6 | 48 | 1 |
| 14. Missouri | 26.5 | 24 | 0 |
PUNTS
No conference in the country dominated punt returns like the SEC did this season. For starters, Texas A&M (19.7) and Tennessee (18.3) were 1st and 2nd, respectively, in the FBS in average yards per punt return. Meanwhile, Alabama finished the regular season as the only team in the country with at least 4 punt return TDs, while Georgia (3) and Tennessee (3) were the only other teams in the nation with at least 3. That’s pretty impressive.
Tennessee added its third score last week when Cameron Sutton raced 85 yards for a TD in the 53-28 win over Vanderbilt. All in all, there were 16 punt return TDs this season in the SEC.
Arkansas finished the regular season as the only team ranked among the top 5 in both returning punts and covering punts, ranking 3rd in both category.
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 | 18.3 | 31 | 3 |
| 3. Arkansas | 15.5 | 12 | 0 |
| 4. Alabama | 13.9 | 33 | 4 |
| 5. Georgia | 12.8 | 28 | 3 |
| 6. Florida | 12.5 | 29 | 1 |
| 7. Mississippi State | 12.0 | 18 | 1 |
| 8. LSU | 9.8 | 18 | 1 |
| 9. Auburn | 9.4 | 9 | 0 |
| 10. Kentucky | 7.4 | 11 | 0 |
| 11. Vanderbilt | 6.4 | 31 | 0 |
| 12. Missouri | 5.9 | 27 | 1 |
| 13. South Carolina | 4.6 | 12 | 0 |
| 14. Ole Miss | 3.9 | 28 | 0 |
| TEAM | YARDS PER PUNT RETURN ALLOWED | OPP. RETURNS | RETURN TDS ALLOWED |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Florida | 3.0 | 24 | 0 |
| 2. Ole Miss | 6.5 | 16 | 0 |
| 3. Arkansas | 7.2 | 17 | 0 |
| 4. Missouri | 7.4 | 24 | 0 |
| 5. South Carolina | 8.1 | 10 | 0 |
| 6. Alabama | 8.3 | 19 | 1 |
| 7. Georgia | 8.4 | 18 | 1 |
| 8. Texas A&M | 10.1 | 19 | 0 |
| 9. Kentucky | 10.2 | 23 | 1 |
| 10. Tennessee | 11.3 | 19 | 1 |
| 11. Auburn | 12.4 | 7 | 1 |
| 12. Mississippi State | 12.5 | 10 | 1 |
| 13. Vanderbilt | 15.1 | 31 | 2 |
| 14. LSU | 18.9 | 11 | 1 |
INDIVIDUALS
As one would expect the SEC dominated kickoff returns and punt returns on a team level, so it makes sense that it would also dominate those areas individually. And Tennessee’s Evan Berry and Texas A&M’s Christian Kirk were the ones doing the dominating.
Berry is the undisputed champion of kickoff returning this season, finishing with an average of 38.3 yards per return, about six yards better than San Diego State’s Rashaad Penny. He’s also one of only four players with 3 punt return TDs, along with Duke’s DeVon Edwards, Kansas State’s Morgan Burns and Rutgers’ Janarion Grant.
Like Berry, Texas A&M freshman Christian Kirk also led the FBS by a margin of about six yards with an average of 24.4 yards per punt return. He and Tennessee’s Cameron Sutton (18.7) claim the highest averages in the entire FBS.
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 | 38.3 | 21 | 3 |
| 2. Johnathan Ford | Auburn | 28.7 | 14 | 0 |
| 3. Kerryon Johnson | Auburn | 27.6 | 14 | 0 |
| 4. Rashad Fenton | South Carolina | 26.1 | 14 | 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 | 18.7 | 25 | 2 |
| 3. Antonio Callaway | Florida | 14.04 | 25 | 1 |
| 4. Cyrus Jones | Alabama | 14.00 | 29 | 3 |
| 5. Tre’Davious White | LSU | 12.2 | 14 | 1 |
Trent Domingue has had a rough last two weeks. Domingue was the only perfect kicker left in the FBS two weeks ago, but he missed annoys 27-yarder against Ole Miss. Then, he missed three more kicks last week against Texas A&M, going 2-for-5. Just like that, Domingue goes from having the best field goal percentage in the conference, down into a tie for 5th with Kentucky’s Austin MacGinnis.
Daniel Carlson finishes 2015 as the league’s most accurate kicker, going 16-for-17 to finish the season after starting 6-for-9.
Texas A&M’s Drew Kaser (47.9) and Tennessee’s Trevor Daniel (45.6) both finished among the top 10 in the FBS in yards per punt. It’s worth noting that Missouri’s Corey Fatony finished the season right outside the top 5 with an average of 42.9 yards despite setting the Missouri record for punts in a single season with 81, which was also the 4th-highest total among FBS punters this season.
Here’s a breakdown of the top individual kickers and punters in the country.
| NAME | TEAM | FG PERCENTAGE | FG MADE | FG ATTEMPTED |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Daniel Carlson | Auburn | 84.6% | 22 | 26 |
| 2. Westin Graves | Mississippi State | 82.4% | 14 | 17 |
| 3. Andrew Baguette | Missouri | 80% | 16 | 20 |
| 4. Ole Miss | Gary Wunderlich | 77.3% | 17 | 22 |
| T5. Austin MacGinnis | Kentucky | 76.5% | 13 | 17 |
| T5. Trent Domingue | LSU | 76.5% | 13 | 17 |
| NAME | TEAM | YARDS PER PUNT | PUNTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Drew Kaser | Texas A&M | 47.9 | 53 |
| 2. Trevor Daniel | Tennessee | 45.6 | 56 |
| 3. Sean Kelly | South Carolina | 44.3 | 55 |
| 4. Johnny Townsend | Florida | 44.2 | 71 |
| 5. JK Scott | Alabama | 43.4 | 51 |
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
