Special teams up in the air
Joe Agoada, Sports Writer
Special teams can be the most under-appreciated unit on a football team. While field goals and field position can be the deciding factor in a game, they are often overlooked by fans.
Last season, the Wisconsin special teams, specifically the punting game, may have been the Achilles heel for the team, but head coach Barry Alvarez hopes to change that trend in 2003.
The glaring soft spot seemed to come from the punting game. Junior R.J. Morse handled all but two of the team’s punts last year, and most of his stats were less than stellar. While the team held opponents to a mere 6.9 yards per punt-return, it was the distance of the punts that hurt the Badgers. Opposing punters posted better numbers than Morse in 11 of 14 games last season, and Morse averaged only a net 33.6 yards per punt, which is the worst posting of a Wisconsin punter since 30.4 yards in 1995.
As a result of his poor performance, Morse was tested in training camp this season by two walk-ons in Kenneth DeBauche of Bay Port High School and Paul Standring of St. Rita in Chicago.
Both DeBauche (6-foot-2, 195) and Standring (6-foot-1, 190) are leaner then the hefty Hawaiian native Morse (6-foot-1, 245), but they were unable to provide more boom, and the job remained in Morse’s possession.
Last weekend against West Virginia, Morse averaged 40.2 yards per punt and set up the Badgers’ field position on their game-winning drive by pinning the Mountaineers on their own seven-yard line midway through the fourth quarter. He also assumed the holding position on place-kicking opportunities.
Although Morse’s starting job is safe now, DeBauche is standing on the sidelines as the backup waiting for his shot to take the field. The freshman punter played basketball, baseball and football in high school averaging 44.3 yards per punt throughout his career. Alvarez is still taking a long look at the punter situation and still plans on giving every athlete a fair chance to compete.
“From what I’ve seen, [DeBauche and Standring] seem to be very competitive and have strong legs,” Alvarez said. “They’ll have every opportunity (to compete).”
With Wisconsin’s first matchup against West Virginia complete, it is the incumbent and more experienced Morse slated for the starting position this season, but it seems Alvarez will keep him on a short leash, and if he doesn’t show signs of improvement, one of the other punters may get a shot.
Last season, junior Mike Allen, who made 12 out of 19 field-goal attempts and 30 out of 30 point-after attempts, handled the majority of place-kicking duties. Allen had an exceptional spring practice, partially due to the confidence booster of hitting the game-winning 37-yard field goal against Colorado in the Alamo Bowl last season. Unfortunately, a hip injury forced him to sit out the game against West Virginia and has him as a question mark for this weekend’s game against Akron. Once healthy, Allen will be looking to improve on his 64.3 percent field-goal percentage from a year ago.
“His leg is stronger right now,” Alvarez said. “And the one thing that he improved dramatically is the height on his kicks.”
Allen’s backup this season is senior Scott Campbell, who inherited the starting role last weekend due to Allen’s injury. Also handling kickoff responsibilities, Campbell registered 20 touchbacks last season, while the Badgers held opponents to 17.1 yards per kickoff return, a figure good enough for No. 2 in the Big Ten.
Campbell struggled in his start last weekend, missing his first two field-goal attempts before making a 29-yarder in the third quarter.
“I think finishing off with that one has to help with his confidence and just settle him down a little bit,” Alvarez said. “He’s a good kicker, and he’s done some good things, it was first-game jitters I guess, but he’s shown that he can kick much better than that, and I expect him to get better.”
On the flip side, junior Jim Leonhard will once again return punts for the Badgers. In 2002, Leonhard averaged a modest 12.1 yards per return, which was good enough for second in the Big Ten and No. 33 in the nation. Last weekend Leonhard turned in an average performance, returning three punts with a 10.7 yards per return average.
With kickoff returns struggling last season and the Badgers slipping from their high mark of 24.5 yards per return in 1999 to less than 20 yards per return the last two seasons, sophomore Brandon Williams is being counted on this season to develop into a big playmaker. Against West Virginia, Williams had two returns for 40 yards, which is a solid start to the 2003 season.
The one player that appeared to be everywhere for the Badgers on special teams this past weekend was senior linebacker Alex Lewis. Named the coaches’ special-teams player of the game, Lewis blocked a punt in the first quarter against West Virginia, which was recovered in the end zone by junior Kareem Timbers.
“I think he’s more comfortable with what we’re what doing and what his responsibility is,” Alvarez said of Lewis.
With question marks still looming in the kicking game, it may be the return units that will make the biggest impact for the Badgers’ special teams this season.
