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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. Here’s where we stand after the SEC Championship Game and before the postseason begins.
KICKOFFS
There isn’t much to update as far as kickoff returns go. Florida and Alabama remain 6th and 11th, respectively, in yards per kick return with both teams barely improving on their averages from last week.
It’s worth pointing out that the Gators’ 26 kick return opportunities are the fewest in the SEC and tied for 120th in the FBS.
Kickoff returns could play a factor in the Outback Bowl between Tennessee and Northwestern. While the Vols finished the regular season ranked 1st in the FBS at 33.4 yards per return, the Wildcats aren’t too shabby either, tied for 12th in the FBS with an average of 25.5 to go with 2 TDs. They’re also one of only nine teams in the country with multiple kick return TDs.
Of course, Tennessee is just one of four teams in the country with at least 3 TDs on the season.
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 | 20.8 | 26 | 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 | 18.9 | 32 | 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 | 18.6 | 37 | 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 | 20.2 | 25 | 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
Texas A&M and Tennessee, the nation’s top two punt return teams, will look to make an impact in their respective bowl games. The Aggies may have an easier time as the Vols face a Northwestern unit that ranks 4th in the FBS by only allowing 2.1 yards per return.
Meanwhile, neither Northwestern (61st) nor Louisville (92nd) pose much of a return when they’re returning punts.
No conference in the country dominated punt returns like the SEC did this season. 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.
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 categories, and the Razorbacks may have a chance to use that to their advantage in the Liberty Bowl against Kansas State, which is 8th out of 10 Big 12 teams and tied for 79th in the FBS in yards allowed (7.5).
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. Florida | 13.9 | 32 | 2 |
| 5. Georgia | 12.8 | 28 | 3 |
| 6. Alabama | 12.3 | 41 | 4 |
| 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 | 3.7 | 32 | 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. Georgia | 8.4 | 18 | 1 |
| 7. Texas A&M | 10.1 | 19 | 0 |
| 8. Kentucky | 10.2 | 23 | 1 |
| 9. Alabama | 10.9 | 22 | 2 |
| 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 mentioned earlier, two good kick return units will be squaring off in the Outback Bowl. There’s no better return man than the Vols’ Evan Berry, and not just this season, but ever.
The NCAA record books recognizes two different records when it comes to yards per kick return: those who averaged at least 1.5 returns per game and those who averaged 1.2 returns per game. Among players who average 1.5, which Berry qualifies for, he’s currently tied for the all-time record that was set last season by UAB returner JJ Nelson. Berry is tied with Nelson with 38.3 yards per return, and he has one game to break the record.
Likewise, the NCAA record books recognizes two different records the same way when it comes to yards per punt return. Kirk has just managed to qualify for the 1.2 returns per game record, but while his average of 24.4 is astounding and leads the FBS, it falls about four yards shy of Maurice Jones-Drew’s record of 28.5 at UCLA in 2005.
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 | 15.5 | 28 | 2 |
| 4. Tre’Davious White | LSU | 12.21 | 14 | 1 |
| 5. Cyrus Jones | Alabama | 12.17 | 36 | 3 |
Auburn’s Daniel Carlson is up for the Lou Groza Award, which is given to the nation’s top placekicker. Carlson has made four field goals from 50 or more yards away and has made 14 consecutive field goals, both school records. He has converted 20 of his 23 attempts and has made all 35 point-after tries.
Carlson has made 16 of 17 field goals to finish the season after only making 6 of 9 to start.
Carlson is the only kicker nationally with four field goals of 51-plus yards this season. His 56-yarder in the season-opener against Louisville is the 5th-longest in 2015. He has five 50-plus yard field goals in his last 11 games, which is more than the total 50-yarders made by all Auburn kickers in games dating back to 2003.
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.
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. Johnny Townsend | Florida | 44.9 | 79 |
| 4. Sean Kelly | South Carolina | 44.25 | 55 |
| 5. JK Scott | Alabama | 44.18 | 57 |
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.
