Tale of the Tape - Special Teams

[GrayEagle]

Has someone stolen Coach Riddle's identity? He was the architect of some great special teams at Boise State but our return and coverage teams are among the worst in the nation.

Punting

Atterberry ranks 57th among the punters with an average of 41.26 yards per punt. That's the superlative of the special teams...just above the median. That's about a yard and a half less than last year but he's been an effective punter for the past four years and will be hard to replace.

Place Kicking

Zach Olen had a funk for several games in the early season (probably cost us the Troy game) but did recover in the latter half of the season for a 64.7% success which moved him up to #88. The funk included a couple of extra points dropping his success rate to 96.6% (69th). Olen did have one great success though he was #15 nationally on kickoffs averaging 63.31 yards per kickoff.

Return Teams

Our kickoff return team only averaged 19.18 yards per return placing us 99th in the FBS. Our punt return average of 2.13 yards per return was 120th. We were dead last most of the season. One thing that the punt return team did right was put pressure on the opposing punter. They only punted for a 39.28 average the 24th lowest nationally.

Coverage Teams

The coverage teams were almost as bad. They allowed punt returns averaging 10 yards per return (95th) and kickoff returns of 26.54 yards near the bottom at 121st.

Zach Olen is likely the only bright spot on special teams for next year. The return and coverage units did show some very slight improvement as the season wore on.

[UNT 90 Grad]

Has someone stolen Coach Riddle's identity? He was the architect of some great special teams at Boise State but our return and coverage teams are among the worst in the nation.

Punting

Atterberry ranks 57th among the punters with an average of 41.26 yards per punt. That's the superlative of the special teams...just above the median. That's about a yard and a half less than last year but he's been an effective punter for the past four years and will be hard to replace.

Place Kicking

Zach Olen had a funk for several games in the early season (probably cost us the Troy game) but did recover in the latter half of the season for a 64.7% success which moved him up to #88. The funk included a couple of extra points dropping his success rate to 96.6% (69th). Olen did have one great success though he was #15 nationally on kickoffs averaging 63.31 yards per kickoff.

Return Teams

Our kickoff return team only averaged 19.18 yards per return placing us 99th in the FBS. Our punt return average of 2.13 yards per return was 120th. We were dead last most of the season. One thing that the punt return team did right was put pressure on the opposing punter. They only punted for a 39.28 average the 24th lowest nationally.

Coverage Teams

The coverage teams were almost as bad. They allowed punt returns averaging 10 yards per return (95th) and kickoff returns of 26.54 yards near the bottom at 121st.

Zach Olen is likely the only bright spot on special teams for next year. The return and coverage units did show some very slight improvement as the season wore on.

Some of that kick return yardage is on Olen for line drive kicks right to the returner that didn't give the coverage time to get down field.

[UNTLifer]

They only punted for a 39.28 average

Many times this was the reason for the lack of returns. Short punts lead to easy coverage and not enough room to make a return.

[KRAM1]

Was told recently by someone who should definitely know that UNT has a very good punter lined up for next season. Will definitely miss Will Atterberry, and he should, in my opinion, get some look-sees from a few pro teams, but am told we have a good rplacement in waiting. So, not going to be concerned about that special teams position right now.