Brown Is Bound And Determined To Improve WVU Special Teams

Aug 10, 2023

WVU’s Danny King attempts a field goal during a recent practice. He is battling Michael hayes for the starting job.

MORGANTOWN– On Oct. 8,1955, in a West Virginia football game being played in Bluefield, the aptly named Jack Rabbits, whose given name was Victor but whose speed made the nickname a natural, dropped back deep as the punt returner against VMI.

The Mountaineers were large favorites, unbeaten and ranked No. 11 in the country, but were struggling with the pesky Keydets, the game scoreless and the crowd of 11,000 getting restless.

VMI had actually gotten off a decent punt on the play before, the ball rolling out of bounds at the WVU 19, but the kicking team was offside, leading to another being launched off the kicker’s foot in what would wind up being Rabbits’ foot.

He originally let the punt slip past him, rolling to the 1-yard line, but Rabbits went back, scooped it up and … well, let’s the wire service UP tell us what transpired:

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (UP) — Victor (Jack) Rabbits got a sputtering West Virginia attack going with a spectacular 99-yard punt return late in the first quarter and the marauding Mountaineers rolled to an easy 47-12 victory over Virginia Military Institute.

Rabbits bobbled a punt down the right sideline. He broke away from two tacklers at midfield and with the aid of key blocks outraced three defenders and went off on the longest run recorded in West Virginia history.

Such is the role special teams play can have on a football game and that is why Neal Brown is determined this season to improve on a special teams’ performance last year that was lacking badly in certain areas.

While the punt game and coverage was good, neither the kickoff team nor the kickoff returns team distinguished itself, leading to poor field position and which a less than dynamic offense on one side and a leaky pass defense on the other side couldn’t overcome.

“If you look at our losses, we got our tail kicked in field position,” Brown noted. “I think we missed 16 tackles on kickoffs last year, which is, I mean, that’s absurd. That’s way too high. And our kickoff return last year, we really made a bunch of poor decisions at the returner.

“I think our average starting field position after kickoff returns was the 21-yard line. To give you an example, Kansas State, and maybe TCU, averaged around the 28. That’s a 7-yard difference. That’s huge.”

It is unlike WVU historically to be weak in the return game, having traditionally recruited speed and athletes who were dangerous.

Just the names alone bring back memories of spectacular touchdown returns … Tavon Austin, brothers Shawn and Nate Terry, Lance Frazier, Shelton Gibson, Willie Drewrey and future Super Bowl star Fulton Walker.

Austin had two 100-yard kickoff returns and one of 98 yards and Shawn Terry did him better with two 100-yard returns and one of 99 yards while brother Nate also had two 100-yard kickoff returns.

Shawn Terry averaged 28.8 yards per kickoff return in his best season of 2001 but the record is held by Shelton Gibson at 32.8 yards per return in 2015 while Frazier holds the punt return record of 20.8 yards per return in 2003.

As amazing as it may seem, Drewrey had 1,109 yards on 108 career punt returns while Austin compiled a ridiculous 2,407 yards on 97 kickoff returns.

WVU had three players average better than 26 yards per kickoff return for their careers, Mario Alford with 26.3, Darius Reynaud 26.8 while Terry holds the record at 27.7.

So, it is difficult to accept WVU being sub-par on special teams. This goes for all aspects of it, the kicking game having featured one of college football’s greatest punters ever in Todd Sauerbrun, who averaged 48.4 yards per punt in 1984 and 46.8 yards for his career, while such place kickers as Pat McAfee, Josh Lambert and Paul Woodside won games with their legs.

Brown is determined to change that.

Michael Hayes, a transfer, is battling Danny King for the place kicking and kickoff job.

“Hayes had a good day,” Brown said Tuesday. “He hit one Saturday from 50 yards where you either end practice or we extend another drill if you miss. He hit that. Then today he hit one from 45 or 50 from that range.”

But one area that Brown expects to excel is in the punting of former Australian Rules Football player Oliver Straw, who he expects to be an “elite” punter this year.

That is based on a number of factors.

“Versatility, No. 1. He can kick it left-footed; he can kick it right-footed; he can spiral it, kick it end over end, where it spins. He’s got all the tools. He can kick it in the pocket, he can roll out each way. He gives us a lot of flexibility from a protection standpoint,” Brown said.

“And I like his demeanor. He’s not affected by things like he misses a punt or someone gets on him. It just rolls off him.”

Straw got a year’s experience in 2022 and showed all of those features while being totally unruffled under pressure.

For example, there was a snap he dropped against Oklahoma State, something that could be a disastrous mistake with an inexperienced punter.

You basically fall to the level of your training. It’s an overworked quote but it’s true.

“What he did was drop the snap. It was pouring down rain, about 35 degrees, and he circled the ball, picked it up and gets it off,” Brown said. “He’s really even keeled and does what he’s supposed to.”

The punt and kickoff teams are bearing down on coverage, something Brown thinks will be improved because there is more team speed this season and because tackling has been emphasized.

He even plans to do some live tackling on kickoff returns in practice, something that has become almost archaic as teams worry about injuries.

The kickoff returns will probably wind up in the hands of a pair of experienced transfer returners in Ja’Shaun Poke from Kent State and Beanie Bishop from Minnesota.

Poke averaged 29.4 yards per return at Kent State while Bishop did not return kickoffs at Minnesota but he did average 24 yards a return when at Western Kentucky.

Preston Fox is back to return punts and Brown seems pleased with him, being sure handed where the No. 1 requirement to catch the twisting punts and making judgements when to call a fair catch or if it can be returned.

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