[NU Sports] one down, one up

[John A. DeGroat]

It looked to me like we couldn't stop the run and the offense has a long 
way to go.  There is a lot of potential for next year but not much hope 
for  this year.  Illinois looks like the closest thing to a sure win 
this year in the Big Ten.

John DeGroat

John Labbe wrote:

> I've actually thought the special teams this year have, overall, been 
> much improved.
>
> They didn't really help us much last night, but I didn't think they 
> cost us the game, either.
>
> We've had touchbacks on most kickoffs this year, which is a huge 
> relief.  Last night, we had touchbacks on 3 of 4 kickoffs, and on the 
> fourth one, Nevada returned it to the 30, which isn't terrible.  Under 
> Walker, we were often spotting the ball on the 35 after every kickoff, 
> or worse.  Frankly, I think this one difference alone has gone a long 
> way to helping our defense.
>
> Punting has admittedly been a mixed bag, but I don't recall anything 
> last night in the punting game that really cost us.
>
> Returns are a different issue.  For some reason, Cole seems to be 
> under instructions to hardly ever field punts.  I suppose I prefer 
> that to a muff, but we really ought to be able to field those for a 
> few yards or to prevent the ball from bouncing back an extra 10-20 yards.
>
> Kickoff returns have been total confusion, with two lost muffs so far 
> on the season.  Last night's muffed kickoff was a big mistake, as the 
> front guy shouldn't have been trying to field it.  But at that point, 
> the game was all but over.
>
> Back on the positive side, we've had two blocked punts and a blocked 
> extra point so far this season.
>
> As far as field-goal kicking goes, it doesn't look like it's going to 
> win us any games, but it seems to be somewhat improved.  The two 
> misses last night were 39 and 32 yard attempts.  In 95/96 we would 
> have hit those 90% of the time with Valenzizi and Gowens.  If we could 
> hit attempts over 30 yards at least 50% of the time, that would be a 
> big improvement.  But at least this season we have yet to miss any 
> easy ones or any extra points.  Had we made one of the two FGs last 
> night, we would have been tied at the end (barring the final 
> interception).
>
> But in light of the offense's four turnovers, it's hard to see how the 
> special teams cost us the game last night.  Had we made both FGs, 
> special teams could have won the game for us, but I don't think you 
> can assume 100% accuracy on field goals of 39 and 32 yards.
>
>
> On Sep 23, 2006, at 3:37 AM, Brad Wilson wrote:
>
>>
>> 3) We win the game if special teams f*ckups don't
>> happen. This is one element of the Walker/Fitz era
>> that I am tired of and needs to be changed
>> immediately. Please explain to me how Virginia Tech
>> (just to name one example) can have ace special
>> teamers year in and year out and NU has special teams
>> high schoolers would be ashamed of? Touchbacks are few
>> and far between, the punting is ordinary at best, and
>> the placekicking is appalling. Even during the Dark
>> Ages, kicking was an NU strength. Why not now? Our Big
>> Ten championships would never have happen with this
>> shoddy ST work. This is intolerable; it was, to me,
>> Walker's greatest weakness and I don't want to see it
>> continue. The returns, to be fair, were better Friday.
>>
>
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