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Our punting game

Duff Man

Duff Man

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Our special teams as a whole are not playing well, but this unit is really struggling. Dilallo entered the Okie Lite game dead last in the Big 12 in average, and actually was below that average on Thursday night. We are getting killed in field position every single week largely stemming from the issues with this part of the team. They have also given up three TDs this season. In my mind, this might be the most important unit we need to target for improvement aside from the offensive line and the safeties next season. Can we count on Grossnickle to help solve some of these woes?
 
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Yeah, it looks like he doesn't punt with any momentum. It seems he just swings his leg without really stepping into it, and then stands there dejectedly. WTF?
 
I remember Bill Parcells talking about special teams when he first took over the Dallas Cowboys. He knew he had some holes on the roster and he wasn't inheriting a Superbowl contender by any stretch. But he did know that with good coaching he could achieve incremental improvement on his return and coverage teams. As he explained, when you take the number of change-of-possession special teams plays per game, if you do a few yards better on average than you did the year before... it's like adding a 1,000 yard performer to your offense. That, by itself, is likely going to be good for a few extra wins.
 
Dilallo is another example of a trend since Hawk got here. As a FR he showed a lot of promise. He made some big kicks and very few bad ones. If I am not mistaken he got some consideration on some all-freshman teams etc.

Unfortunately he does not seem to have progressed and developed much in four years and in some aspects seems to have declined. He is not as consistent as he was with some "where did that come from" punts at the wrong time this year.

Kickers, like most positions, can be looked at as a combination of three parts. First is physical ability. He showed right from the start that he has the physical talent and still gets off some high quality punts. Secondly is technique. I am not and never was a punter but it seems like his technique does not seem to be as smooth and powerful as it was when he started or what you see from other quality punters, this can usually be at least partly attributed to coaching or lack of it. The third part is confidence. This again is very much a factor of coaching and of the players and scheme around him. I have been closely watching CU football for close to thirty years and can never remember punting teams that looked less organized and able to deal with what the opponents throw at them. Dilallo has been under heavy pressure for the last couple of seasons and I think this is a big part of his problem. Get a couple of punts blocked and some other near misses and it gets into a guys head. As soon as a punter starts worrying about rushing to get it off or where will the pressure come from his consistency goes out the window.

Just another example of why we need a change at the top to let our players have the opportunity to perform at their best.
 
With Matt and his backup Darrell out of the equation next year I'm banking on Money and the Nickel to come through for us (finally) in the kicking game. Otherwise, hope some walk ons can show promise because it's not fun to see these additional schollies get thrown around because the existing ones aren't producing.
 
I watched Grossnickle warm up before the aTm game. He was regularly getting 7-10 yards more distance on his punts with better hang time. I have no idea how he'll look facing a rush, but he punts much farther and higher than Dilallo...so of course DH redshirts him.
 
leftybuff said:
I watched Grossnickle warm up before the aTm game. He was regularly getting 7-10 yards more distance on his punts with better hang time. I have no idea how he'll look facing a rush, but he punts much farther and higher than Dilallo...so of course DH redshirts him.
Click to expand...

I'll accept the redshirting if it gets us 4 years out of a scholarship punter. We just need 10 other guys to help keep guys from running one back.
 
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