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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
Tennessee is the king of kickoff returns, and it showed why last Saturday against Kentucky. The Vols only had one return, but of course, it got ran back 100 yards for a touchdown by the one and only Evan Berry. For the season, Tennessee leads the FBS with 40.4 yards per kick return, that’s an average of 6 yards more than the next-best team, which is Michigan at 34.4. Meanwhile, the Vols are the only team in the country to take three kickoffs to the house. In fact, only four other FBS teams even have 2 touchdowns.
Interesting enough, Tennessee, Mississippi State and South Carolina rank among the top five in the SEC in average yards and average yards allowed per kickoff return. We’ll see a couple interesting matchups on Saturday when Tennessee faces South Carolina, which is 3rd at defending kickoffs. Meanwhile, Auburn (2nd with 29.2 yards per return) visits Texas A&M (2nd with 17.2 yards allowed per return).
Meanwhile, Missouri, Georgia and LSU all rank among the bottom five in both categories. The Tigers were off this past week, so they’re still dead last in returning kickoffs (15.3 yards per return) and defending them (27.2 yards allowed per return). Mizzou faces Mississippi State tonight, which is 5th in the same department and is one of only three SEC schools to post a touchdown.
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 | 40.4 | 18 | 3 |
| 2. Auburn | 29.2 | 23 | 0 |
| 3. South Carolina | 25.1 | 21 | 1 |
| 4. Kentucky | 21.7 | 19 | 0 |
| 5. Mississippi State | 20.8 | 18 | 1 |
| 6. Texas A&M | 20.7 | 19 | 0 |
| 7. Vanderbilt | 20.6 | 21 | 0 |
| 8. Arkansas | 20.1 | 19 | 0 |
| 9. Alabama | 19.4 | 23 | 0 |
| 10. Florida | 18.3 | 19 | 0 |
| 11. LSU | 18.3 | 15 | 0 |
| 12. Ole Miss | 17.5 | 18 | 0 |
| 13. Georgia | 16.7 | 25 | 0 |
| 14. Missouri | 15.3 | 20 | 0 |
| TEAM | YARDS PER RETURN ALLOWED | OPP. RETURNS | RETURN TDS ALLOWED |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Vanderbilt | 16.6 | 21 | 0 |
| 2. Texas A&M | 17.2 | 21 | 0 |
| 3. South Carolina | 17.8 | 11 | 0 |
| 4. Mississippi State | 17.9 | 29 | 0 |
| 5. Tennessee | 18.9 | 27 | 0 |
| 6. Ole Miss | 19.3 | 29 | 0 |
| 7. Alabama | 20.4 | 24 | 0 |
| 8. Florida | 20.9 | 19 | 0 |
| 9. Arkansas | 21.3 | 33 | 1 |
| 10. Georgia | 21.8 | 29 | 0 |
| 11. Auburn | 22.2 | 5 | 0 |
| 12. LSU | 23.1 | 33 | 1 |
| 13. Kentucky | 24.0 | 27 | 1 |
| 14. Missouri | 27.2 | 12 | 0 |
PUNTS
Amazingly, Tennessee also returned a punt for a touchdown against Kentucky last week, and it actually came in the same quarter. Tennessee, Utah and Rutgers (where coach Butch Jones was a graduate assistant) are the only three FBS schools to record touchdowns in both departments this season. While Tennessee excels in returning kickoffs and punts, Jones made it clear that South Carolina will give them trouble on kickoffs, but the Gamecocks are also 3rd in the SEC in defending punts.
The Aggies’ 19.5 yards per punt return is 4th-best in the FBS. The Aggies, Vols and Razorbacks all rank among the top 10 in the FBS in yards per punt return. This week, Arkansas faces Ole Miss, which leads the SEC by only allowing 3.7 yards per return.
The punt return game may play a factor in Saturday’s showdown in Tuscaloosa. LSU enters the contest ranked dead last in the FBS by allowing 28.7 yards per punt return, including a touchdown to Florida’s Antonio Callaway.
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 | 19.5 | 15 | 2 |
| 2. Tennessee | 19.1 | 19 | 2 |
| 3. Arkansas | 17.8 | 9 | 0 |
| 4. Georgia | 13.1 | 22 | 2 |
| 5. Mississippi State | 12.4 | 14 | 1 |
| 6. Florida | 11.8 | 16 | 1 |
| 7. LSU | 10.7 | 10 | 1 |
| 8. Alabama | 9.3 | 26 | 1 |
| 9. South Carolina | 9.0 | 6 | 0 |
| 10. Kentucky | 8.7 | 6 | 0 |
| 11. Vanderbilt | 7.5 | 23 | 0 |
| 12. Auburn | 7.3 | 6 | 0 |
| 13. Missouri | 6.2 | 18 | 1 |
| 14. Ole Miss | 5.1 | 21 | 0 |
| TEAM | YARDS PER PUNT RETURN ALLOWED | OPP. RETURNS | RETURN TDS ALLOWED |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Ole Miss | 3.7 | 11 | 0 |
| 2. Florida | 3.8 | 16 | 0 |
| 3. South Carolina | 5.3 | 6 | 0 |
| 4. Auburn | 7.8 | 4 | 0 |
| 5. Mississippi State | 8.0 | 6 | 0 |
| 6. Missouri | 8.2 | 19 | 0 |
| 7. Alabama | 8.5 | 15 | 1 |
| 8. Georgia | 9.4 | 12 | 1 |
| 9. Texas A&M | 9.9 | 15 | 0 |
| 10. Arkansas | 13.0 | 8 | 0 |
| 11. Tennessee | 13.4 | 13 | 1 |
| 12. Vanderbilt | 13.6 | 14 | 1 |
| 13. Kentucky | 14.5 | 13 | 1 |
| 14. LSU | 28.7 | 6 | 1 |
INDIVIDUALS
Vols dynamo Evan Berry already has three kickoff return touchdowns this season, tied for the SEC single-season record for kickoff return touchdowns along with Tennessee’s own Willie Gault in 1980 as well as Georgia’s Brandon Boykin and Vanderbilt’s Warren Norman, who both matched the feat in 2009.
The SEC owns the monopoly when it comes to return men this season. That’s because Texas A&M’s Christian Kirk is still the FBS leader in punt returns with his average of 22.7 yards. Syracuse’s Brisly Estime joined Kirk and Maryland’s William Likely as the only two players in the country with multiple punt return TDs so far this season with his 59-yarder against Florida State last Saturday.
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 | 42.6 | 16 | 3 |
| 2. Johnathan Ford | Auburn | 29.6 | 10 | 0 |
| 3. Shon Carson | South Carolina | 25.2 | 11 | 0 |
| 4. Kenyan Drake | Alabama | 23.2 | 10 | 0 |
| 5. Eric Hawkins | Arkansas | 22.6 | 8 | 0 |
| NAME | TEAM | YARDS PER PUNT RETURN | PUNT RETURNS | TDS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Christian Kirk | Texas A&M | 22.7 | 12 | 2 |
| 2. Cameron Sutton | Tennessee | 20.2 | 13 | 1 |
| 3. Antonio Callaway | Florida | 13.7 | 13 | 1 |
| 4. Isaiah McKenzie | Georgia | 11.9 | 10 | 1 |
| 5. Tre’Davious White | LSU | 11.4 | 9 | 1 |
Another area where special teams may play a factor in this week’s LSU-Alabama matchup is field goal kicking. Not far-fetched with Les Miles on the sidelines, right? However, we’re not referring to a fake. Trent Domingue is a perfect 9-for-9 on his tries this season, the only qualified kicker in the FBS with an unblemished mark entering Week 10. Meanwhile, the Tide have only made 10 of 16 tries, a rate of 62.5 percent that ranks 12th in the SEC.
Like the return game, the SEC would’ve owned the monopoly for the FBS player with the best field goal percentage and player with the most yards per punt, but Michael Carrizosa of San Diego State had to ruin that by surpassing Texas A&M’s Drew Kaser with his average of 49 yards.
Here’s a breakdown of the top individual kickers and punters in the country.
| NAME | TEAM | FG PERCENTAGE | FG MADE | FG ATTEMPTED |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Trent Domingue | LSU | 100% | 9 | 9 |
| 2. Westin Graves | Mississippi State | 88.9% | 8 | 9 |
| 3. Austin MacGinnis | Kentucky | 84.6% | 11 | 13 |
| T4. Daniel Carlson | Auburn | 82.4% | 14 | 17 |
| T4. Gary Wunderlich | Ole Miss | 82.4% | 14 | 17 |
| NAME | TEAM | YARDS PER PUNT | PUNTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Drew Kaser | Texas A&M | 48.2 | 39 |
| 2. Trevor Daniel | Tennessee | 46.5 | 39 |
| 3. Corey Fatony | Missouri | 44.7 | 54 |
| 4. Johnny Townsend | Florida | 43.6 | 44 |
| 5. JK Scott | Alabama | 43.3 | 40 |
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.
