RU-Minn yardage from LOS close (399 to 372), but huge KO yardage difference

[RU848789]

I know there have been lots of posts about how bad our special teams were, but I hadn't looked at the boxscore until today. What a huge difference in KO return yards, in particular, where MN had 6 for 204 and we only had 1 for 30 (and a penalty to the 35 and the other 5 were touchbacks coming out to our 25). The net result for 7 KO's each, was that we started each possession on our 27 yard line, on average, and they started on their 42 yard line, on average (that factors in their TD runback). That's 15 yards better per possession, which is pretty big.

They also did about 4 yards better, net, per punt (less punts, though). And they only did 27 yards better, overall, from the line of scrimmage, which over 14 possessions, each (not counting the 5-10 second possessions at the end of each half), averages out to 2 yards more per possession for MN. Nothing groundbreaking in this post, but this is one case where the stats back up what everyone saw with their own eyes - special teams (and TOs) were the difference in this the game.

http://www.scarletknights.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2016-2017/ru08.html

 

[RUskoolie]

Your post backs up what I've said all year. Our K and P issues have led our team to play on a much larger field compared to the opponent. Find two scholarship kids who can really boom the ball and suddenly things improve for us. We give up free first downs on almost every punt and KO due to lack of leg strength.

 

[RU#1fan]

We need an FBS level kicker.
We are getting Divsion II level kickers for the last 6 years.
This has to CHANGE

 

[AreYouNUTS]

We can't kick to save our lives. We know this. We also have seen our KO and Punt teams, both ways, get considerable worse the last few years. If not for Grant - watch his runs and see how many of them have been almost ALL "him" - we'd have some of the worst ST's in the nation, the last 3 years, hands-down.

Nothing new here but I guess the "#'s" - punt intended - are always interesting to see!

 

[brodo]

I marveled at how proficient Ohio State's kickoff coverage was when we played them. Almost every kickoff to us was caught right around the goal line with a tackle at around the 10 to 15 yard line. Their kicker messed up one time and kicked it about 2-3 yards into the endzone. We took a knee and started that series at the 25.

 

[RoxboroughKnight]

I marveled at how proficient Ohio State's kickoff coverage was when we played them. Almost every kickoff to us was caught right around the goal line with a tackle at around the 10 to 15 yard line. Their kicker messed up one time and kicked it about 2-3 yards into the endzone. We took a knee and started that series at the 25.

Besides lengths of kicks, the fact that we haven't been able to kick to the side of the field we want to has hurt us as well. Ohio State is excellent at this (kick to the corner and then play coverage). I believe in the Minnesota game the kickoff that was returned for a TD was supposed to be kicked to the corner, but instead went down the middle.

Getting a solid kicker in this class would make a huge difference.