You’ve probably heard the joke before. A fan says “wow, our special teams weren’t very special today.”
It may not be original, but it is certainly a good way to describe the special teams, um, performance the Houston Cougars put up against BYU.
Or you could use how Houston coach Tony Levine chose to describe it. On the weekly American Athletic Conference coaches teleconference, Levine said it was “the worst I’ve ever seen in 20 years of coaching.”
Even that might be nice.
Houston was horrible in the kicking game in Provo. The lowlights included a blocked field goal and two, yes two, missed extra points. The NFL wants to make changes to the PAT system because nearly 100 percent of extra points are successful. Somehow Kyle Bullard and the Cougars managed to miss two … IN A ROW.
There is simply no excuse for that.
And in the case of the blocked field goal, it came at the end of Houston’s first sustained drive when any points would have been helpful already down 23-0. Bullard hasn’t missed a field goal (6-for-6) yet this year, but that is completely overshadowed by the horrible missed extra points.
And it doesn’t stop there. Going into the BYU game, Houston was 113th (out of 128) in the country in kickoff return yards average. They are in the middle of the pack when it comes to defending kickoff returns; and that could be a problem because UNLV is coming to Houston Saturday with one of the better return men in the country. (Marcus Sullivan averages more than 27 yards on every return.)
If there is a bright spot for the Cougars’ special teams it’s the punting game, but even that could still be better. Dylan Seibert is dropping the ball to the tune of 41.9 yards per punt (50th overall). He’s had two punts of more than 50 yards and Logan Piper has landed both his punts inside the 20 yard line. The unfortunate part, however, is the punters have had a lot of practice—15 punts to be exact.
And oh yeah, this special teams savagery is coming from a team whose head coach made his way up the ladder with special teams. Levine had his hand in, or was in charge of, special teams at Louisiana Tech, Louisville, the Carolina Panthers and at Houston before he got the head coaching job.
Levine said on Monday’s conference call to expect changes on special teams starting Saturday. But what exactly can you do? Teams can’t just pluck another kicker from the roster; it isn’t like the NFL where if your kicker stinks you can cut him and sign some free agent who has been bagging groceries waiting for his next chance.
I would imagine, and expect, the changes will come around the kicker. I have always been a fan of playing starters on kickoffs, kick attempts, and punt coverage. Think about how many times a game has come down to a last-second field goal, or a great kickoff return has set up a game-winning drive. But most of the time teams play second-stringers or have a specific special teams unit on the field. Why on Earth wouldn’t you want your best offensive linemen in the game for that big kick, or your best blockers to pave the way for your return guy?
I also think it’s time to get some playmakers back returning kicks. Demarcus Ayers isn’t getting the job done, averaging just 16 yards per return. I know some coaches don’t like to put their stars back there, but why not Kenneth Farrow, Daniel Spencer or Greg Ward Jr., who is handing punt return duties?
Something has to get fixed, and fast. Houston will likely be staring at several close conference games, and these problems on special teams could easily be the difference between respect and regret in 2014.
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