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 still tops in the league yards per kickoff return by a wide margin at 35.2. Think about that. Averaging over 35 yards per kickoff is the same thing as the Vols getting an illegal procedure penalty in their favor on every kickoff. In fact, there’s only one team in the FBS that averages more yards than the Vols, and that’s San Diego State with a slightly better average of 35.6. However, the Aztecs’ new helmet design may lead every school in the nation by a much more comfortable margin. Tennessee and Mississippi State are still the only SEC schools to take a kickoff back to the house this season.

Meanwhile, no team in the league has allowed a kickoff return. Missouri ranks last by allowing 28.8 yards per return. Take a closer look at Auburn in the opponent kickoff returns section. The Tigers have only had to defend one kickoff return this season, the fewest in the FBS. That’s not a typo. They’re fourth in the FBS in touchback percentage (78%).

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 35.2 10 1
2. Mississippi State 26.9 7 1
3. Auburn 26.2 10 0
4. Kentucky 25.8 10 0
5. South Carolina 24.7 12 0
6. Vanderbilt 22.7 11 0
7. Texas A&M 21.7 13 0
8. Arkansas 21.7 12 0
9. Florida 20.8 11 0
10. Ole Miss 19.1 11 0
11. Alabama 18.6 12 0
12. Missouri 16.0 11 0
13. LSU 15.1 7 0
14. Georgia 12.8 12 0
TEAM YARDS PER RETURN ALLOWED OPP. RETURNS RETURN TDS ALLOWED
1. Vanderbilt 15.1 13 0
2. South Carolina 17.3 7 0
3. Kentucky 17.5 13 0
4. Tennessee 18.3 15 0
5. Texas A&M 19.1 12 0
6. Arkansas 19.1 17 0
7. Mississippi State 19.6 16 0
8. Ole Miss 19.9 18 0
9. Alabama 21.0 14 0
10. Georgia 22.3 18 0
11. Florida 23.3 8 0
12. LSU 25.3 13 0
13. Auburn 27.0 1 0
14. Missouri 28.8 9 0

PUNTS

Texas A&M still leads the league in punt return average (27.7 yards per return), and they’re one of five SEC teams with a punt return TD. Alabama isn’t doing itself any favors, averaging just 7.1 yards per return, which is last in the SEC by a fraction.

Vandy is still the only team to allow a punt return TD. That one came in Week 2, when Isaiah McKenzie of Georgia returned a punt 77 yards for the first score of that contest.

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 27.7 6 1
2. Arkansas 25.0 4 0
3. LSU 20.0 5 1
4. Tennessee 16.8 12 1
5. Georgia 13.4 12 1
6. South Carolina 10.0 5 0
7. Auburn 9.7 3 0
8. Mississippi State 9.1 7 0
9. Ole Miss 8.9 10 0
10. Florida 8.6 12 0
11. Kentucky 8.5 4 0
12. Missouri 7.6 12 1
13. Vanderbilt 7.1 12 0
14. Alabama 7.1 14 0
TEAM YARDS PER PUNT RETURN ALLOWED OPP. RETURNS RETURN TDS ALLOWED
1. Ole Miss 1.0 4 0
2. Mississippi State 3.0 2 0
3. Missouri 3.7 6 0
4. Alabama 4.4 5 0
5. Georgia 6.7 3 0
6. South Carolina 7.0 3 0
7. Florida 8.4 8 0
8. Tennessee 8.5 11 0
9. Auburn 9.0 3 0
10. Kentucky 10.8 6 0
11. Texas A&M 14.7 6 0
12. Arkansas 15.0 2 0
13. Vanderbilt 17.7 6 1
14. LSU 23.0 4 0

INDIVIDUALS

All that damage mentioned in the first section about the advantage the Vols are getting on kickoff returns comes from Evan Berry. He’s averaging an impressive 38.3 yards per return, which is fourth-best in the FBS. Mississippi State’s Brandon Holloway has the SEC’s only other kick return TD, which was actually the Bulldogs’ very first score of the season against Southern Miss in Week 1.

Meanwhile, LSU cornerback Tre’Davious White surged to the top of the punt returners after taking one 69 yards for a TD in the third quarter against Syracuse last week.

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 8 1
2. Shon Carson South Carolina 25.6 10 0
3. Sihiem King Kentucky 24.1 8 0
4. Darrius Sims Vanderbilt 22.7 11 0
5. Eric Hawkins Arkansas 22.7 7 0
NAME TEAM YARDS PER PUNT RETURN PUNT RETURNS TDS
1. Tre’Davious White LSU 20.0 5 1
2. Isaiah McKenzie Georgia 14.5 8 1
3. Cameron Sutton Tennessee 13.8 9 0
4. Antonio Callaway Florida 10.2 9 0
5. Pharoh Cooper South Carolina 10.0 5 0

Mississippi State’s Westin Graves and LSU’s Trent Domingue are still perfect on the season. There are only two other Power 5 kickers that are perfect kicking five or more field goals this season: Oregon’s Aidan Schneider (6-for-6) and Duke’s Ross Martin (6-for-6). There’s a five-way tie for the next-best field goal percentage.

And no one’s been better at flipping the field than Texas A&M senior Drew Kaser, who’s booming punts at an average of 51.6 yards. The only FBS punter averaging better is San Jose State’s Michael Carrizosa at 52.8.

Here’s a breakdown of the top individual kickers and punters in the country.

NAME TEAM FG PERCENTAGE FG MADE FG ATTEMPTED
1. Westin Graves Mississippi State 1.000 5 5
2. Trent Domingue LSU 1.000 3 3
T3. Austin MacGinnis Kentucky 85.7 6 7
T3. Gary Wunderlich Ole Miss 85.7 6 7
T3. Andrew Baguette Missouri 85.7 6 7
T3. Taylor Bertolet Texas A&M 85.7 6 7 T3. Daniel Carlson Auburn 85.7 6 7
NAME TEAM YARDS PER PUNT PUNTS
1. Drew Kaser Texas A&M 51.6 14
2. Trevor Daniel Tennessee 48.6 22
3. Kevin Phillips Auburn 44.8 16
4. Johnny Townsend Florida 44.4 19
5. Tommy Openshaw Vanderbilt 44.3 18