Special Teams a Mystery

4 comments so far April 3, 2008 by Steve Hanway

Husker fans feel like they have some basis for their expectations of what the team will look like in the fall. The offense will be somewhere between Callahan's West Coast Offense and what Shawn Watson did in Colorado. At three schools Bo Pelini's defensive trademark is effort and multiplicity. But there's no real track record to look back on when it comes to special teams. We could try to say that Jeff Jamrog could influence the approach based on his presence in the Athletic Department, but truthfully whomever runs those units will likely be fairly new to the position.

The actual kicking would seem likely to be the same. The kickers, punters holders and snappers at the top of the depth chart are all set to return. But if Husker fans learned one thing from Jordon Congdon, it's that past performance may not be indicative of future results. So while we wouldn't expect the performance of the kickers to change (which would largely be a positive), it doesn't mean it can't.

But truthfully the unknowns might be more important than those "knowns". That is the kick and punt coverage units and the kick and punt return units. The coverage units have generally been good in recent years, while the return game often left much to be desired.

There is plenty of raw talent to man these units. Whether it's the returning starters or the speedy recruits, the bodies will be there. But will the schemes? The Spring game will likely be the best opportunity to judge that until September. But even then, will the top units face off against one another? What about the players who would normally pull double duty (on kicks and returns). They can't play both ways at the same time. And what if one unit appears to dominate the other. Does that indicate excellence in one area or weakness in the other?

Special teams are an important part of the game. As BRN's Darren Carlson likes to call it, it's the hidden third. Huge chunks of yardage are exchanged. And in terms of predictions, Husker fans may as well rely on a chimp and a dartboard because there's little to go on. Middle of the Big 12 pack might be the right expectation, simply because you'd be less wrong if they're really good or really bad and dead on if they're neither. But if the dart landed somewhere else, who's to argue?

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