Is this the year we no longer have to hold our breath every time we have to punt? The past two years have been fraught with inconsistent and sometimes horrible punting. I'm not asking for Reggie Roby stats, just someone who can consistently help Iowa gain the field position advantage. The last year that we had a good, solid punting game was back in 2011 with Eric Guthrie. In 2010, Ryan Donohue averaged 42.11 per kick. That's a leg that can change a game for you.
Waiting to Exhale (punting)
- Thread starter HawkNorth
- Start date
Our punting last year was actually pretty good and the coverage was great....minus the Rose Bowl.
I disagree with your opinion about the last two years. I have watched special teams performance, very closely, for the past 2 years. There was a marked difference between last year and the year prior. In my view, last year's performance was very good, not exceptional; 2014's was marginal to average. Last year's performance was confidence-inspiring, in my view. I specifically recall Kidd winning critical field position in the Wisconsin game.
Dillon Kidd was our main punter during 2014 and 2015. From http://www.footballdb.com/college-football/players/dillon-kidd-kidd0003
2015: Av punt 40.2yds, net 35.2yds, 22 punts downed inside 20 yd line.
2014: Av punt 38.5yd, net 33.7yds, 12 punts downed inside 20 yd line.
Iowa also changed its punt scheme to the shield punt, a first in the Ferentz era! That made a huge difference. If memory serves, we only had one punt blocked (vs Maryland) and one returned for a TD (vs Stanford). So, both individual performance, and scheme, improved in 2015 vs 2014.
Moving forward, I assume the Hawks will stick with the shield punt. Our current punters are both good; Rastetter has the ability to be exceptional, though he may not be consistent enough to see action this year. When he gets his mechanics down, he will be a force.
Not sure what you are getting at? I think we punted around mid-field and put them inside the 20 if I remember correctly.
A bit OT here, but when I looked at Roby's college stats, I thought perhaps he was "Doyle"-ized, leading to a bit jump in performance from soph to junior year, only I realized Doyle wasn't there yet, lol. Doyle got there in 1999. So, I wonder what was responsible for the big jump? I recall that he stopped placekicking in his junior year, so perhaps he was simply more rested for his punting.
1979 Av 42.6 yd/punt
1980 Av 40.6
1981 Av 49.8
1982 Av 48.1
1979 Av 42.6 yd/punt
1980 Av 40.6
1981 Av 49.8
1982 Av 48.1
I think it probably is best explained by the appearance of "pooch punter" Tom Nichol. Starting in '81 Nichol was the placekicker and the "short" punter. Reggie had a cannon for a leg, but it really helps the average when you don't have to worry about placing it inside the 10.
Nichol had 11 punts in '81 for an average of 31.7 yards, 8 punts for 35.1 yards in '82. In 1983, as the full-time punter, he had 48 punts with a 38.4 average.
http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/tom-nichol-1.html
After i got home from work, I looked at the 1980 stats. Roby had 41 punts that year, and Lon Olejniczak had 24 (for 35.3 yards). I don't remember that season as well, but Lon O apparently was also a pooch punter. Also, Holsclaw and Schilling did some punting in '79. So, Reggie may have had an actual power surge.
Last edited:
I think we may have taken a delay of game penalty to make some room for Kidd to pin them deep. Then they fair caught it at what, the 22? It was a shortish punt was my point when every yard ended up counting.
I'm much more worried about our FG kicking than our Punter. I think we will be similar to last year with Punt Coverage.
