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2011 Recap - Part 2 of 4 - Special Teams

SDHornet

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2011 Recap - Part 2 of 4 - Special Teams

The Hornets had a bad year in the special teams area and any of the positives were overshadowed by horrid place kicking and punting. In fact, statistically the Hornets had the worst punter and kicker in the BSC. The coverage teams slipped a bit from last year but the Hornets were able to block a handful of punts. The unreliable place kicking really hindered scoring opportunities for the Hornets. Poor punting also resulted in great field position for opponents time and time again which put added pressure on the defense. Special teams are a vital part of the game and we saw how much of an impact they can have when they are effective (blocked punts & returns) or ineffective (poor kicking).

The kick coverage teams had their ups and downs. The kick coverage unit wasn’t very effective at keeping opponents pinned deep and they did allow some big returns every now and then. A lot of this had to do with kickoffs not being very high and far which allowed opposing returners to catch the ball on a line drive and get up the field quickly. Kickoffs routinely only made it as far as the 10 yard line. With that said the Hornets did well at converging on the returner and making a tackle. The Hornets did allowed 1 kickoff TD so there is room for improvement. The punt coverage was solid however with the short punts; they didn’t have much ground to cover. The punt coverage didn’t allow any TD returns and did a good job at containing the explosive punt returners in the BSC. The punt blocking team did get after a couple of punts and were able to block 3 (down from 5 a season ago). I like this aggressive stance on punts and we should expect to see this so long as Coach DaPrato is the ST Coach.

The kicking game was horrible. With a senior punter in A. Heath returning, there were just too many shanked and very short punts that gave opponents great field position. The punting was so bad that S. Heath had his redshirt burned to take over the punting duties. Unfortunately he didn’t do any better and couldn’t provide a solution to the punting issue. To their credit, both punters did a decent job when it came to pinning teams inside the 20 and the upside to the short punts is that they resulted in a lot of fair catches which reduced the risk of allowing a big punt return.
On the place kicking side of things, the Hornets had freshman kicker Diniz step in to take over the kicking duties and he had a pretty rough year. He didn’t have a booming leg on kickoffs and his FG’s were routinely low and he struggled with accuracy even from short range. To make things worse, he had 2 PAT’s blocked and this caused the Hornets to abandon the kicking game all together and go for 4th down when in FG range, as well as go for 2 point conversions after every TD. Diniz did end the season on a high note by drilling 2 short FG’s and a PAT in the Causeway so there could be a chance at redemption next season assuming the coaches stick with him. The good news is the kicking and punting game has nowhere to go but up.

The returning game was mediocre for most of the season and there were some mistakes. There were a few fumbles on kick returns that were huge momentum swings for opponents, but all in all the return game wasn’t bad. Hendershott put together some decent returns, including a huge kick return for a TD at MSU and he had another TD called back in the Causeway. Carter had a good number of returns too and it seems like he has the ability to have some big returns in the future. He will need to hang onto the ball though as there is nothing more detrimental than putting the ball on the ground during a kick return. The Hornets didn’t have many punt returns so the impact there was minimal. It seemed as though the Hornets set up more to go after a block rather than set up a return. I don’t recall seeing any muffed punts this season which was a big improvement from a season ago. The Hornets did return a blocked punt for a TD by Williams during the UM game which statistically skews the return yardage.

Team Rankings/Stats
    • • Net Punting: 9th in BSC (98th FCS) with an average of 31.6 yards per punt.
      • Punt Returns: 1st in BSC (20th FCS) with an average of 11.7 yards per punt return, 1 TD.
      • Kickoff Returns: 7th in BSC (66th FCS) with an average of 20.4 yards per kickoff return, 1 TD.
      • Punt Coverage: Allowed 5.3 yards per punt return. 3 blocked punts.
      • Net Kickoff: 6th in BSC with an average of 39.2 yards per kickoff.
      • Kickoff Coverage: Allowed 24.1 yards per kickoff return. 3 touchbacks, 1 TD allowed.
      • Field Goal %: 9th in BSC, 3/8, 37.5%
      • PAT %: 8th in BSC, 26/28, 92.9%

Players Leaving
    • • Augie Heath, P: After earning all-BSC honors his SO season, his output progressively decreased as his career progressed. I don’t think anyone really knows what happened here but it continued to disappoint.
      • John Hendershott, KR/WR: There was a void in the kick return game when Shaw was lost for the season to injury. He stepped up and was able to fill the kick return role quite well. A solid versatile player that will be missed.
      • Kyle Monson, PR/CB: He wasn’t able to take a punt for a TD this season and his return opportunities were limited; but he drastically improved his decision making in the return game from a season ago.
      • Jake Croxdale, RB: For what he lacked in size he made up for in heart and determination. He saw a lot of time on special teams and he definitely left his mark while he was here. A true warrior and dedicated player whose emotion and attitude will be greatly missed.

Players Returning
  • • James Bobak, LS/TE: Returning for his SR season. Coming in with a season of LS experience under his belt we expected a solid and consistent performance from him, and that is exactly what we got. Every punt and FG/PAT begins here and it’s in pretty good hands. The big question here is will there be a second season of “Jimmy Likes” videos posted on Hornet Football Facebook during 2012 fall camp? One can only hope.
    • Jason Diniz, K: Returning for his SO season. He struggled mightily throughout the season but looks to have rebounded in the final game of the season. He has lots of career left but he needs to drastically improve if he wants to keep the job. I can tolerate the short kickoffs if he can be close to perfect from 40 yards out or less. If he can get his kicks higher, he shouldn’t have any issues with blocked FG’s/PAT’s.
    • Smith Heath, P: Returns for his SO season. Had his redshirt burned to replace his brother, he didn’t produce better results and was benched by the end of the season. He needs to see drastic improvement as well. My computer monitor cannot take another season of regularly shanked punts.
    • Jordan Bettencourt, K: Returns for his redshirt FR season. If the coaches felt he was better than Diniz, his redshirt probably would have been burned too. The kicking spot is wide open so if he can impress in spring and fall camp, the spot could be his.
    • DeAndre Carter, KR/WR: Returns for his SO season. I like this kid. He is fast, shifty, and just has something to him that feels like he is always one step away from making something big happen. He needs to hang on to the rock or he won’t see many chances in the return game.
    • Sam McCowan, KR/RB: Returns for his SR season. He saw limited action in the return game and will probably see less next season as he looks to be the primary RB for next season.
    • Markell Williams, DB: Returns for his JR season. He was voted special teams MVP and had a huge scoop and score off of a blocked punt during the UM game that drastically changed momentum in the Hornets favor. He played on all 4 ST units and had some playing time at nickel back. His hustle and aggressive play will make him a top contender for one of the open DB spots.
    • Corey Vanderbeek, DB: Returns for his JR season. He is our punt block specialist plain and simple. A tremendous special teamer who will be looking to challenge for one of the open starting spots in the defensive secondary. He probably has the inside track to ST MVP for the 2012 season if he can continue to create momentum changing blocked punts.

Individual Stats
Kickers
  • • Diniz: 3/8 (37.5%) FG’s, long of 32 yards, 26/28 (92.9%) PAT’s, 46 kickoffs for 2,873 yards (62.5 ypk), 39.2 ypk net, 3 touchbacks, 1 out of bounds, 1 FG & 2 PAT’s blocked.
    • A. Heath: 47 punts for 1,666 yards (35.4 ypp), long of 50 yards, 8 inside the 20, 4 touchbacks, 14 fair caught, 1 punt blocked.
    • S. Heath: 16 punts for 533 yards (33.3 ypp), long of 42 yards, 4 inside the 20, 5 fair caught, 0 punts blocked.
Kick/Punt Returners
  • • Monson: 4 punt returns for 26 yards (6.5 ypr), 1 kick return for 16 yards
    • Deadder: 2 punt returns for 17 yards (8.5 ypr)
    • McMahon: 1 punt return for 9 yards
    • Williams: 1 punt return/block recovery for 30 yards, 1 TD
    • Hendershott: 31 kick returns for 668 yards (21.5 ypr), 1 TD
    • D. Carter: 8 kick returns for 170 yards (21.2 ypr)
    • McCowan: 6 kick returns for 129 yards (21.5 ypr)
    • Croxdale: 5 kick returns for 66 yards (13.2 ypr)
    • M. Smith: 1 kick returns for 11 yards

2012 Outlook
There is plenty of improvement to be made in the special teams units for next season, especially in the kicking game. The kicking game needs to see drastic improvement for this area of the team to not be considered a liability. Abandoning the kicking game is no way to improve odds of winning a game. Both kickers are young and have plenty of room to grow, but patience is thin so improvement needs to be seen heading into the 2012 season. I recall hearing the announcers say that the kickers are walk-ons. If that is the case, Coach Sperbeck should probably look at using a scholarship or two to shore up the kicking game. Another option could be to bring in a specialty coach for some kicking sessions if the program has the funds to do so. It will be interesting to see how/if the kicking game is addressed in the offseason. I think both kicking positions are wide open to whoever walks-on or is recruited so that will be something to keep an eye on in the offseason.

As far as the coverage and return teams are concerned, I think there are talented players on the roster who can improve this aspect of the game. This roster has the depth to provide capable players to fill in on the special teams. For the most part this has been the case and although the coverage and return teams may not be the best, they are a solid group that is capable of getting the job done. Coach DaPrato has done an amazing job at getting after punts and creating some big plays on special teams. Hopefully this will translate across the board for all the ST units and some electrifying returns can be generated.

The other void I see heading into next season is at the punt returner position. The punt return game has largely struggled the past few seasons but so long as they can find a returner who doesn’t muff or fumble the returns, the Hornets should be fine. I am hoping for solid and consistent special teams play as well as a vast improvement from the kickers in 2012.

As always my thoughts and analysis are always up for discussion. Please feel free to add your :twocents:

GO HORNETS!!!

Next: Part 3 of 4 – Offense
 
Termite said:
Markell Williams is not leaving as you have mentioned. He has one or two more years left I believe.
You are correct. Thanks for pointing that out, it has been fixed.
 
You should provide these to the staff. But make sure you include previous years so they don't think this is a slam for keeping 2.0 in there too long. Your history with this would be a great benefit to a staff busily evaluating this past season and preparing plans for spring ball. An outside set of eyes from a seasoned evaluator (especially one provided at no cost) can work wonders.

Great job, SD!

:thumb:
 
Friday's SacBee had an article on Pleasant Grove's kicker/punter, Marcus White, who is 6', 200# & also plays WR & safety. He leads the state w/91 touchbacks in 105 attempts, & his punting average exceeds 40 yards w/a long of 84. Only 3 FG's, but Pleasant Grove scores TD's all the time. He played a lot of soccer, but now concentrates on football. He is a good student & has academic offers from John Hopkins & Azusa Pacific & walk on offers from Washington St and SDSU, but he's hoping for a D-1 football scholarship.

Sac St should take a look at him too and if he looks good, offer him a scholarship. I'd give up a scholarship to avoid another year like we just had. It'd be worth it just to prevent all the anguish again.
 
Thank you for the excellent writeup on special teams.
I agree with the majority of your review, especially that we need much improvement with kicking and punting. To that end I can offer these thoughts:

TRUST
Our special teams are in good hands for the next 3 years. We have the right players for the task in place ready to improve and excell. Trust me, these guys are much better than you know.

KICKING
J Diniz was not nearly as bad as his stats suggest. None of his missed kicks were more than a few feet wide. Much closer than missed kicks typically seen on TV every week by kickers on the best football teams in America. Note: Alabama's kicker missed 4 of 6 FG's in the LSU game, several misses were much uglier than anything Diniz put up. That loss cost Alabama millions so you can bet they are interested in better kicking too but they didn't panic and abandon their kicking game.

Diniz's missed and low kicks were a factor early in the season yes, but as I pointed out in another thread it was because of a technical mistake which he corrected over the last few weeks of the season. If you saw the Davis game, you saw his real potential with strong high kicks and solid Kickoffs.

J Diniz averaged 62.5 yards per kickoff. EXACTLY the same 62.5 yards our opponents averaged so enough with the incorrect hack that his kickoffs are short. Factually speaking he had very good control on KO's and hit most of them into the corners. His hang time will improve with a different approach that I will show him this spring.

PUNTING
A Heath's numbers did fall off after his SO season. But there were NO MORE long punt returns like the Tim Toon 95 yarder (weber State). The longest return against us this year was 16 yards, otherwise nobody returned squat against Augie. Limiting long returns was the teams punting goal, not leading the league in net yardage. Effective punting isn't always pretty.

S Heath was not expecting to play this year and wasn't tuned up for game performance. Burning his redshirt was foolish and didn't help at all. That being said, his punting was decent for a freshman with the exception of a couple short punts and one shank. For bloggers looking to upgrade punters please remember that Smith was a 2 time All State high school punter who has legendary form and amazing ability to punt to the corners. At kicking camps around the country Smith is typically used as the "do it like this" role model for other punters. There aren't many better young punters in the country so replaceing him would be difficult. Again if you saw Smith's warm ups at the Davis game, you know his potential is unlimited.

SPECIALTY COACHING
I'm here!
I should have listened to my dad and become a doctor but I became a football player instead. My specailty was punting and kicking. I spent 22 years doing it and another 20 coaching it. I see those little things others don't and I understand why the kicks/punts are successful or not and how to correct problems. Just like a QB coach who works on good hands and feet, I do the same with kickers and punters. I worked with Diniz and Heath many times this year and I am absolutely confident they are the right men for the job.

You have my word that nothing means more to me than helping the Hornets get better. Hornet kickers won't finish at the bottom of the league next year!

NOTES:
Freshman suck! C'mon face it, this is football and freshman make freshman mistakes. We saw ALL of our freshman go through the learning curve and now they will get better, right on schedule. Bringing in another freshman kicker won't help..... not until after that guy goes through the freshman curve too.

Have faith, our kickers will be great!
Go Hornets!
 
FB: In an otherwise decent response to the entire board discussion for the entire season (reminding us of the big picture), you mention that 'Bama's kicking woes against LSU the first time around somehow cost the school millions. Given that The Fix guaranteed them a spot in the bogus "title" game they don't deserve, what money has the Tide lost?
 
Super Hornet said:
FB: In an otherwise decent response to the entire board discussion for the entire season (reminding us of the big picture), you mention that 'Bama's kicking woes against LSU the first time around somehow cost the school millions. Given that The Fix guaranteed them a spot in the bogus "title" game they don't deserve, what money has the Tide lost?

The BCS is a joke. I try to tell myself that I'm going to boycott the "title" game but I know I won't be able to do that when it is the only game on. Also some of the other BCS selections are a joke as well.
 
Opps! sorry I didn't realize Bama got the title shot.
I worked all weekend and didn't see the news. I assumed the 1 loss would keep the out of the BSC Title Game, hence the lost millions - potentially as much as 25M. Apparantly that's not the case. It's nice to be in the SEC huh?

As a side note: LSU usually has the best kickers in the nation. That's because HC Les Miles spends LOTS of time and money making sure his guys are tops. He attends many kicking events in the off season and they get the best guys to become Tigers. Typically they carry 3-5 punters and 3-5 kickers who compete every week for the starting job which guarantees better results. A nice luxury when you have 85 fully funded scholarships and another 20 walk-ons dying to be there.

I will say that some of the kicking and punting I saw this year across the nation (at the biggest schools) was much worse than anything Sac produced. Although we demand TOTAL focus and effort from our kicking specialists, "not perfect" is typical for punting and kicking. So one point I was trying to make is that our guys (Diniz & Heath) are right for us. They are skilled and dedicated specialists who work year round to get better. These boys are mentally and physically strong, there are no "Head Cases" here. Plus both freshmen have already paid the (learning curve) price of admission to D-1 Football so to abandon them now is counterproductive. The quest to find a different specialists is a waste of time.

Go Hornets!
 
Waste of time? I can count 2-3 games where the kicking game lost us the contest.

Your obviously the kicking coach or parent and are trying to make excuses for keeping substandard results for the next three years.
 
Famous Baller, it's clear that you're an expert on kicking and punting. But also, it's clear that your vision is clouded by your closeness to Diniz 2.0 and Heath 2.0...

You cannot call 3 near PAT length kicks in the UCD game a turnaround for Diniz. And saying that searching for another K to compete would be a waste of time is pure lunacy. The outcomes of 2-3 games were directly impacted by Diniz's shortcomings. And just "trusting" that next year will be different could cost Sperbeck his job.

I think the jury is still out on Heath 2.0. I agree that it was stupid to burn his RS, and I think he might be a viable option with a little more development.
 
there should be competition at every position. Maybe we will see Diniz and Heath starting again next year but at least knowing there is competition to bring out the best in them is the way to go.
 
Thanks for the well thought out response above FB. I hope the worst is behind both of the kickers and I hope they turn it aruond and develop into the players you believe they will be.

Regarding the other responses, I too think the kicking jobs will be opened up to whoever comes in and guns for those jobs. Let the coaches go with whichever players earn the spots and believes which players are right for the jobs. If Diniz and Heath maintain their roles then so be it.
 
Well I was very down on the stament made by the person that had replyed about Curtis Shaw,"The guy is made of glass". That is what you said.

I like to be very respectfull too you and this form. So what I like to say, I will not say, but I will say is this too you. You are wrong and lack the understanding of the college game of football.

I have never been part of a form in this respect of writing but I do read all the infomation about Sac. State Football and I am please to see this form under way it is shockingly modest, which is refreshing, with results of great coverage at times. However I had to write this and reply to the writer that made the reply about Shaw.

Your allegations of Shaw, come with no respect at all and is ridiculously thin to attack from the outside to what you have no realistic understanding of what goes on in the inside of a college running backs and what one must do to be at that confidence level in college football.

Shaw qualifies as a tone-setter for More often than not. A running back, it’s a position where people don’t talk a lot, so maybe people don’t recognize how important or how strong a leadership position the running back is and at times commands significantly important to his team.

I was not sold on Shaw when he came to sac state, I wanted know why a player of his recognition is comming to our Sac State. So I did some more checking up on him and what he did at The University of Washington.
First let me say he never was out of a game because of a reported injury in 12 games. Played in every game his first year of playing at UW. His sophomore year he came back home for a reason that had nothing to do with his playing or a reported injury.

When Shaw took off with the respect of his head coachTyrone Willingham, "The opportunity will be here for him to return once his family issues have been resolved," said UW coach Tyrone Willingham in the statement. "For the time being, that needs to be his focus."

Shaw was the top running back and was the #1leader of recivers by stats. Shaw left the team in August to return to his home in Stockton, Calif., for what his father said were "some serious family issues here." He came back to UW in late September with his father and met with former coach Tyrone Willingham and AD Scott Woodward and got the OK to return to the team after the season.
However since the hiring of new coach Steve Sarkisian came to be the head coach. Sarkisian also wanted Shaw back. Sarkisian said "any RB with 4.25 speed I want on him hear and playing running back full time for UW". However Sarkisian wanted Shaw to be speed power back and that is not the kind of RB he is.
Shaw is a super fast RB that runs North & South with very little East & West moves, it what people that know the game call it a (down hill runner).
So because of that reson only, Shaw moved on. I fund out that every Team in the Big Sky division offerd this kid a scholarship when they knew that he was out looking for a new college to play football. Because can produce.

O by the way coach Steve Sarkisian, found out the hard way that you can not play running backs the way he did when he was at USC because those days are gone you now go to the air 67% of time with backs that can catch the ball and run.

Sometimes you play some teams where even though you’re doing well it doesn’t show up in the box score, you don’t see that the defens is always making adjustments because you must all ways know when and where that speed is on the field. That kind of RB features backside cuts that put defensive linemen on the ground. A lot of defenders hate it, and many say it puts their knees at risk. But it’s a legal technique that plenty of teams use, to win and it is call SPEED!! Just not, perhaps, with the regularity and proficiency that Sac has not been able to embrace because Shaw was out and came back an to suffered from concussion, and then (knee), but he’s actually doing a lot of good things out there, for the team.

Did you know that Shaw had suffered the knee injury early in the first min. of the game, but he stay in the game late in the third quarter. It was Shaw that was the running back that set up the gohead TD with his big reception in the supper big win over with 36 yards reception against Oregon State late in the game That he would have taken to the house if not for the injury.

I do not think a RB that is made of glass would have stayed in the game under that kind pain. If Shaw had come out ASAP when the injury happen he would not have miss the 2011season that is what I understand from what I read in the MRI later showed.

Curtis Shaw, is is a great technician when he runs the ball you can not teach this, you have it, or you dont have it. Shaw he’s got great movement skills. He plays the game with excellent leverage. He’s the linchpin of the best offensive back that we have at Sac State! Shaw got that coordination, he's got the rhythm together, and I think that’s why you will see us running the ball effectively When Curtis Shaw in the sac state initial plans.
We need the other RB also. I do not want to disrespect the other RB on our team but Curtis Shaw is the big key to wins. Go back to the Stanford game and look at the hits that he took. If it was not for all of the call backs he would have went over 100 yards on Stanford who had one of the best defensive that year. That is why UW coach Steve Sarkisian, would not let Shaw out of his scholarship agreement if he would go to another PAC 10 school with out a sit out because he did not want for someone who can produce to come back and but him in the --- well you know what I mean.

PS. Did you know this?

Oakland Raiders #22 Taiwan Jones, Detroit Lions #44 Jahvid Best and Curtis Shaw, all ran on the same 4X4-100 Champions Junior Olympic team. What do they all have***********SPEED Shaw will be the next NFL player if he can stay on the field.

This is why Sac needs him and he needs Sac. Next time do your homework before you say, or post a Sub-topic reply with no understanding of the game. You just been given some of the best Equalizers of what it takes to be RB in college or NFL football.

Go Sac State Football and all of the players & Coaches in 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

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