[Husker] Comparing 2007 vs 2008 (Very long)

[Dick Karre]

Skylar Dodds wrote:
> NET PUNTING. We all sensed that something wasn't right with Titch. Well,
> that was certainly the case. In net punting. we went from 40th in the nation
> to 96th, and fourth to 10th in the B12. The net yards per punt declined from
> 36.3 net/yp in 2007 B12 play to a dismal 33 net/yp in 2008. Is a 3 yard
> decline significant? Perhaps not. But we certainly are not getting the field
> position benefits that we have enjoyed with a long line of Husker punters.
> And the future of that position is very cloudy at this point. 


Henery was all-state punter at Burke, so I have to assume he will get a 
look. Brett Maher, a freshman from Kearney, is the only other returning 
punter on the roster.


> KICKOFF COVERAGE. In 2007, we finished 61st in the country in KO coverage,
> giving up 20.7 yard per return. In 2008 play, we dropped to 101st in the
> nation, giving up 23 yards per return. This is certainly not as big a drop
> off as I had guessed there would be. But here is where we have seen the
> biggest difference: Adi only had 26 touchbacks in 81 attempts in 2008 (32%),
> while he had a remarkable 28 touchbacks in 69 attempts in 2007 (40.6%). It
> is difficult to tell if this has been due to coaching decisions to use
> shorter kicks for some tactical reason, or if Adi has lost his groove. In
> either case, we need some tweaking here. 

Adi's best two KOs Friday were the last two, when he gave up trying to 
kick it through the end zone and got some air under the ball, while 
still getting it to the goal line. Both returns were stopped at the 20. 
Again, I think the staff should give Henery a shot here. He kicked the 
ball 60+ yards on THE field goal with a two-step approach. And he can 
always go to that funky spinning pooch kick that is so hard to handle. I 
was surprised they didn't try it again on Friday after recovering the 
first attempt.

Great post, BTW.
-- 
Dick Karre
dkarre at comcast.net