DPE punt returns

BigRedBuster

BigRedBuster

International Man of Mystery
I checked......he is right.


DPE has not called for a fair catch literally just one time this year.....for one yard.

I like the kid and think he can be an effective part of our passing game.  However, there is something seriously wrong with his confidence in this area.  He even called himself out for fair catching the last punt of the Oregon game.  It could have actually gained some decent yards.

I typically have a hard fast rule of not picking one player out and criticizing.  But......I think it's time to try someone else back there.  Tyjon....?????

 
He has also not really had much room to work with.

I'd have to look again but I don't think there have been any where he was completely wrong to take the fair catch.  The last one vs. Oregon seemes bad but there was a guy close by, he just ran by by the time the ball got there.  And you shouldn't fair catch at your own 5 yard line but that wasn't going to be a return.

If our defense would make people punt more, we'd have a larger sample size to look at.

 
Well, you'd have to go back and see which of those punts DPE should have fair caught vs returned (I don't know the answer). If it's just the one, then not that big of a deal.

 
Fair question.  However, I'm a believer that good punt returners have that sort of daredevil attitude where they think they can make things out of nothing.  He hasn't had a problem catching the ball that I remember.  I have seen one hell of a lot of good punt returns come out of situations that look like they are well covered.....the returner makes a good first move and off to the races.  But....if you never try....it guarantees you it will never happen.

 
Maybe the opponents realize that DPE is a dangerous returner, so they are having the punter sacrifice some distance in order to get more hang time and coverage down field.  I don't have any evidence or stats to back that up though.

I will say I was frustrated when DPE called a fair catch at the 5-yard line.  He needs to have more field awareness.

 
Arkansas State punted five times.  The first one was for 21 yards and went out-of-bounds.  The third one came down at the 8 and he was right to not even try to catch it.  The fourth one came down at the 9, same story.  The fifth one had Morgan back to return as DPE was out - it got 1 yard.  Here is the only one DPE had a legitimate shot at followed by Morgan's catch.

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Oregon's first punt was fair caught by DPE at our five.  Obviously he shouldn't have even caught it but you can see how much room he had below.

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Oregon's second punt went into the end zone.  Here is the third one:

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Their fourth one was a 27 yard pooch punt.  The fifth one is the one that got people fired up.  But there was a guy that was getting close him before the ball go there so he didn't think he had much room - just like he hadn't had any room all day.  It just so happened that that guy was blocked so he would have had room had he not called for a late fair catch.  Yes, he should have been able to run with this one.  But it's one instance where he made a bad choice after not having any chance for two games.  That's not a trend.

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Seems to me it goes back to when BP was coach, as the last time we really tried to block for and setup punt returns.  Drives me freaking crazy.  

 
Mavric said:
Arkansas State punted five times.  The first one was for 21 yards and went out-of-bounds.  The third one came down at the 8 and he was right to not even try to catch it.  The fourth one came down at the 9, same story.  The fifth one had Morgan back to return as DPE was out - it got 1 yard.  Here is the only one DPE had a legitimate shot at followed by Morgan's catch.

9jvLSwn.png
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7 guys in white are within 10-13 yards of DPE...where there hell is any support for him? Same crap was happening at Oregon. It is stuff like this that makes people's patience wear thin.

 
huskerfan120889 said:
7 guys in white are within 10-13 yards of DPE...where there hell is any support for him? Same crap was happening at Oregon. It is stuff like this that makes people's patience wear thin.
Click to expand...
Look at the formation they punted out of on that play, though. Seems like a very difficult thing to try and counter when compared to the more traditional punt formations you see in the pros.

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huskerfan120889 said:
7 guys in white are within 10-13 yards of DPE...where there hell is any support for him? Same crap was happening at Oregon. It is stuff like this that makes people's patience wear thin.
Click to expand...
Not as thin as if they'd allowed Oregon a first down on a fake punt, something they've been known to do.

Oregon's punt situations:

4th and 3 from Nebraska 45 (fair caught at 5)

4th and 9 from Nebraska 43 (kicked into endzone)

4th and 6 from Oregon 29 (fair catch interference penalty)

4th and 6 from Oregon 43  (pooch 27 yards downed by Oregon)

4th and 14 from Oregon 21 (good blocking, returnable punt)

 
LaunchCode said:
Not as thin as if they'd allowed Oregon a first down on a fake punt, something they've been known to do.

Oregon's punt situations:

4th and 3 from Nebraska 45 (fair caught at 5)

4th and 9 from Nebraska 43 (kicked into endzone)

4th and 6 from Oregon 29 (fair catch interference penalty)

4th and 6 from Oregon 43  (pooch 27 yards downed by Oregon)

4th and 14 from Oregon 21 (good blocking, returnable punt)
Click to expand...


The other problem with that is not only watching for the fake but if they're punting from near mid-field a lot it doesn't lead to much chance for returns because they can kick it near the end zone or hang it up high enough for the coverage to get there.

 
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