Looking Ahead to 2012 Husker Football: Special Teams

by Husker Mike on Feb 28, 2012 1:00 PM CST in 2012 Nebraska Huskers Football

Kickers: Brett Maher, Sr.; Mauro Bondi, So.
Punters: Brett Maher, Sr.;
Holders: None
Long Snapper: P.J. Mangieri, Sr.;
Return: Ameer Abdullah, So.; Tim Marlowe, Sr.; Kenny Bell, So.; Jamal Turner, So.

Well, how about that! Just about everybody is back on special teams, except holder Austin Cassidy. Frequently the punter ends up being the holder, and while Brett Maher seemed to do it all last season, holding for his own kicks might be expecting just a little too much.

Jon: Last year's biggest story line heading into the season was "Who's going to replace Alex Henery?". It didn't take long to get the answer to that question as Brett Maher made it seem like Henery had never left, doing an excellent job in both punting and kicking.

The surprise of the season had to be the early play of Ameer Abdullah, who was fun to watch and didn't have us holding our breath whenever he caught the ball.

Mike: Actually, Maher probably outplayed Henery much of last season. So I'm not concerned about kicking this season.

The return game could be interesting. The NCAA is going to experiment with moving kickoffs up to the 35 yard line, and spotting the ball at the 25 after a touchback. You won't necessarily want an Adi Kunalic kicking off, but rather a guy who can kick it high and let the coverage team do their part. That means that kickoff returners will need to create their own holes.

I'm wondering if we'll see Jamal Turner get a shot to return kicks this season. Last year, everybody inked Turner into this role, only to have Abdullah seize the job. What I found curious was Kenny Bell and Tim Marlowe getting opportunities before Turner did. The only explanation I can offer is that Turner was struggling with the mental aspects last season. Maybe that was a calculated decision to try and get him ready to play on offense, but it may have limited one of Nebraska's biggest weapons.

Jon: I get the idea that Turner was struggling with the idea that he had to practice hard to get on the field - same problem he had as a receiver. You don't get to just show up and play at this level even if you're capable.

In fact, as we wrap up the 2012 preview - let's take that and apply it across the board.

Mike: I think you're onto something there, Jon.

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Comments

Practice...practice?

I mean we ain’t talking about the GAME. We’re talking about practice…practice man. Practice?!

by Conspiracy* on Feb 28, 2012 2:40 PM CST reply actions

Hopefully this will be a team strength this year.

At least I can still hate the stinking Raiders!

by Chiefs1 on Feb 28, 2012 8:51 PM CST via mobile reply actions

I think the

kickoff being moved up will hurt the game as it did in the NFL this season in my opinion. Why even bother just automatcally put it at the twenty five and be done with it.

by Huzkerfan on Feb 28, 2012 8:54 PM CST reply actions

What about when you want to do an onside kick?

by Lake_show on Feb 29, 2012 10:06 AM CST up reply actions

ya know....

I thought about this area a little bit more while doing a lot of sitting and driving recently.

And I thought – we feel good about our special teams, but we really didn’t look at things like break downs in coverage and things like that.

or.. specifically – WTF happened to these guys at Michigan?
Kenny Bell – fumble on a kickoff
Maher – dropped the snap on a punt and had the ball blocked
Michigan’s fake field goal scoring easily due to an assignment break down.
“Roughing” call when attempting to block the punt. I don’t care if it was a shitty call, you don’t hit the punter.
Fumbled another kickoff after Michigan scored on the drive after the blocked punt attempt.The whole frickin’ game was a special teams disaster.And if you’re going to be good at special teams, you can’t be good most of the time or some of the time, you have to be good ALL OF THE TIME.It goes back to that execution thing that Pelini constantly harps about, and that goes back to the fact that this football team still doesn’t have the mentality it will take to win a Big Ten Championship. Until that changes (and most of it has to come from the players), it won’t matter who the coaches are.

Go Big Red Nebraska!
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by Jon Johnston on Feb 29, 2012 12:32 PM CST reply actions