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Special Teams Questions, couple of comments

Charlesroast

Freshman
Aug 4, 2013
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Comments
1 The Gator Bowl, while a huge disappointment, should in no way diminish the successful season.
2 Coach Inge has been a major factor in upgrading football at IU during his time here, and a look at his bio says he is more than ready for this step at Fresno. Wish him well.
3 Special teams are very important, and can be a key in picking up wins for less physically talented teams. See Frank Beamer early days at Va. Tech.

Questions

Did our structure wrt special teams play a significant roll in the successful on side kick?
A post hame interview with Eric Gray (talented FR running back who recovered the kick) indicated UT saw something on film that they thought they could exploit and spent considerable practice time on what they pulled off.
So does this start with our system regarding special teams analysis? Shouldn’t our ST quality analyst be scouting our alignment and reactions just like UT apparently did? Given the game situation, it seems to me we should have had very heightened awareness on this kickoff. Along those lines doesn’t someone in the booth watch opposition personnel. I would think Eric Gray was a rare, if ever kickoff team participant, yet he lined up right next to the kicker, which to me would have been a red flag calling for a TO.

For years we have not had the athletes to have specialists on ST, I believe we are getting there now. I hope Coach Allen puts extra emphasis on ST, both in terms of structure and personnel in 2020.
 
While watching on TV, I thought something looked off when you saw the Wide Screen Shot of our front line and second row alignment. I can't identify what it is, and my Coaching Experience doesn't go beyond 5th and 6th Grade Level, but I have played enough football and watched enough football over the years to sense certain things.

Tennessee obviously saw something on film. You just don't say 'Onside Kick" and have your kicker execute that kick. It was definitely practiced and not just drawn up at halftime.

To me, Cooper looked like the baseball Center Fielder who has a ball hit right at him and hesitates momentarily because he can't get a read on the ball. With Cooper, I think he was indecisive about moving forward to play the ball before it went 10 yards, or waiting for the ball to travel 10 yards to play it.
 
While watching on TV, I thought something looked off when you saw the Wide Screen Shot of our front line and second row alignment. I can't identify what it is, and my Coaching Experience doesn't go beyond 5th and 6th Grade Level, but I have played enough football and watched enough football over the years to sense certain things.

Tennessee obviously saw something on film. You just don't say 'Onside Kick" and have your kicker execute that kick. It was definitely practiced and not just drawn up at halftime.

To me, Cooper looked like the baseball Center Fielder who has a ball hit right at him and hesitates momentarily because he can't get a read on the ball. With Cooper, I think he was indecisive about moving forward to play the ball before it went 10 yards, or waiting for the ball to travel 10 yards to play it.
They definitely did not have enough guys close enough to the LOS when the ball was kicked . As I stated before also it was ok to believe they were not going to but you give them that alignment and pretty much insure that they onside kick and allow them to have success is a different story .
 
They definitely did not have enough guys close enough to the LOS when the ball was kicked . As I stated before also it was ok to believe they were not going to but you give them that alignment and pretty much insure that they onside kick and allow them to have success is a different story .

Thanks, that gets to the points I was trying to make. Isn’t it part of Special Teams Quality Coach Jeff McInerny’s job to scout us and identify vulnerabilities wrt to alignments. There are alignments between 10 guys on the LOS - hands team, and the standard alignment we use, surely we practice more than 2 kickoff alignments. Shouldn’t somebody in the booth be watching the personnel that come out to kick off? Eric Gray lined up next to the kicker should have been a red flag.

I hope this loss causes us to make a commitment to seeking SPECIAL special teams.
 
When you look back at the situation, it is understandable as to why you would think Tennessee would kick long. 4.5 Minutes left and three timeouts they could use on Defense to try to get the ball back. On the other hand, with the rules as they are today, you almost want to force them to kick away. Here is what I mean.

If you move one additional player into the second line and line up three across, you cut off the amount of area each player has to cover, providing less space for them to execute the kick. You can then station two players around your 30 yard line to defend against a short 'pooch kick". You set your single safety at the 10 to come up on a short kick or be in a position to drift back if it is a longer kick. Now you can use the rules to your advantage. Instruct your last three guys to fair catch anything they can get to in the air. You are perfectly happy to have the ball at the 25 or out further depending upon where the ball is caught. If they kick a line drive that hits the ground, you instruct your back guys to field the ball and go down where they field it, unless it goes to your lone safety and he feels he has enough time to field the ball and pick up some yardage. However, he is to go straight up the field, and go down as tacklers approach. No need to get fancy and risk a hit that causes a fumble. If the kick bounces long, your lone safety follows it back into the end zone and downs it. Ball at the 25.

Now you control the situation, have the opportunity to take time off the clock, and if you have to punt, hopefully put Tennessee further back than the spot where they recovered the onside kick.
 
Standard alignment has typically been 5 across. IU has used 4, I believe, now for a while up front. This formation allows one more guy back to help block closer to the kick returner, but leaves huge gaps upfront. UT exploited that to a "T" (no pun intended).

Not sure what formation IU uses for hands team, but typically see 8-10 guys, on 2 levels (1st level to block; 2nd level to cover ball) in front. Whether it's 1, 2 or 3 back if kicked deep, just take a knee.
 
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