Special Forces Report.docx

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Special Forces Report: Rose shines, questions remain

In Charlie Strong’s inaugural campaign as the headman on the Texas sidelines, he faced many

disadvantages that come along ith a !"# season that included five losses of $% points or more&

'ost ill remem(er the interceptions, )a"dropping fum(les and offensive line miscues that

stood out as ma)or (lunders fueling an inauspicious start to the Strong era& *hat flies under the

radar, much li+e ic+ Rose’s soop of hair hides under his hite helmet, is the fact that the

Texas special teams unit as a lia(ility for the entire $%-. season&

Something to remem(er is that the special teams didn’t have a specific coach& /efensive

Coordinator 0ance 1edford handled the duties, hen he asn’t faced ith his primary concern

of operating a defense& o one +nos exactly ho much attention this phase of the team

received, (ut it didn’t help it didn’t have a coach&

2ccording to 3S4’s efficiency ratings, Texas ran+ed --$th out of -$5 F1S teams ith a "-&6#

rating& The 7onghorns ere ninth in the 1ig -$, only finishing ahead of 8ansas& Fran+ly, no

aspect of special teams as very good& 9n +ic+"offs, Texas averaged -6&! yards per return,

hile its opponents averaged ;%&%#, including a Touchdon from 9+lahoma& Rose (oomed )ust

a(out every other +ic+ in that game to the (ac+ of the end <one for a touch(ac+, (ut couldn’t get

leg enough into that particular one to even reach the goal line& Rose also +ic+ed several out of

(ounds entirely, automatically pushing the Texas defense on its heels& 'eanhile, no matter ho

as (ac+ to return, Roderic+ 1ernard, /u+e Thomas, 2rmanti Foreman, /’onta Foreman, /a)e

=ohnson, or some fan earing (urnt orange, rarely did the Texas offense start past the .%, and

often ithin its on $%&



The punt team asn’t much (etter than its counterpart& *ill Russ and al+"on 'ichael /avidson

did their (est to replace outstanding place +ic+er and punter 2nthony Fera, hile each averaged

close to .$ yards per punt& This isn’t a terri(le num(er, until one thin+s (ac+ and remem(ers

Russ’ line drive punt in 2T>T Stadium that set up a (ig return and ultimately a =erry euheisel

game"inning touchdon pass& 2nd then one remem(ers multiple shan+s, that provide an instant

momentum changer to the opponents offense, and put the defense in a rough spot, often after it

had a fe moments to rest ith the 7onghorn offense at or+& =axon Shipley didn’t return punts

extremely often ?$% returns@, (ut hen he did he averaged a solid 6&; yards"per"return& Auandre

/iggs filled in for Shipley tice, for a net yardage of negative nine& In fact, the last time the

7onghorns received a punt return touchdon, /a)e =ohnson as hammering a nail into the

Sooners coffin in $%-;& Texas fans ere, and are still searching for the days of =ordan Shipley,

Auan Cos(y and Fo<<y *hitta+er, here every return could (e ta+en to pay dirt&

7ou Bro<a 2ard finalist and 2ll"2merican 2nthony Fera left a gaping hole in more than one

ay on the $%-. roster& 3nter ic+ Rose, +non more for his hair than his right leg& Rose as

inconsistent at (est, drilling only -. of his $- field goals attempted, and he missed to extra

points& *hat as even more frustrating, as that Rose hit from - yards, and had the leg for

a(out -% more& 7eg strength as never the issue, (ut the $%- 7onghorns are going to need a ton

more accuracy&

9h, did I forget to mention one of those misses as a (loc+ed field goal returned for a

touchdon (y 1aylor, to demorali<e a team that had a shot at the lead early Dou get the idea&

The third of the three phases as not good enough in any facet&



Come on don =eff Traylor, ho as named the ne 7onghorns special teams and tight ends

coach in Fe(ruary& Traylor as +non more for his offenses and inning ays at Bilmer Eigh

School, than he as for his special teams& *hile he has a tall tas+ ahead, one can only imagine

this unit ill improve hen it has more coaching attention, and to add to that, it can’t get much

orse&

Special teams are limited in most scrimmages, and especially in the 9range and *hite game on

Saturday, hoever, e did get a glimpse of things to come for the $%- season& There ere no

+ic+"offs in the game, mostly (ecause of in)ury concern, and all punts required the returner to

call for a fair catch& Field goals played out as standard procedure&

2lthough e didn’t see it, one ould surely imagine Rose ill (e +ic+ing off& 1ut, I don’t thin+

anyone outside of the 7onghorns coaching staff +nos ho ill return& The Foreman (rothers,

along ith Thomas sa the most action last season& Eoever, (efore 1ernard ent don he had

seemed to ta+e over the duties& It also depends on ho much of a role certain ide receiver have,

so the coaching staff ouldn’t ant to ris+ them for in)ury& I thin+ this rules out the Foremans,

Thomas and =ohnson (ecause of the other roles they ill have& 'y guess 1ernard and some

com(ination of young receivers ho aren’t on campus yet& 1ernard seemed to have the )o( last

season (efore his in)ury, and hy not see hat one of the +ids can do&

'itchell 1ec+er as rumored to have an edge over 'atthe Sims in spring practices for the

punting )o(, and it shoed on Saturday& 1ec+er averaged ;5&$ yards on his five punts, hich



doesn’t (lo the screen aay& 1ut, he did have one for .6, and another that travelled .- yards,

hile pinning the offense inside the $% yard line tice& Eis other (oots, left some yards to (e

desired& Sims only had one punt, late in the scrimmage for ;. yards& It appears this is 1ec+er’s

)o( heading into the fall& *e ill all have to ait and see, (ut there ere a fe positive signs&

/a)e =ohnson got the call to return punts, something he excelled at in $%-;& *hile he never

returned any, he had a /a)e’ type moment, (ouncing a (all off his chest as he attempted a fair

catch& It as no harm in Saturday’s scrimmage, (ut in the fall, the play ould’ve resulted in an

opponents touchdon& That muff as all Strong needed to see to yan+ =ohnson for =acorey

*arric+, ho caught punts the remainder of the afternoon&

ate 1oyer’s exit story has circled through multiple media outlets as he attempts to ma+e the

F7& *hat hasn’t, is the hole he leaves (ehind& =unior 8yle 2sh(y has the )o( no, and loo+ed

)ust fine in the ne deep snapper role& 2lthough he did have one high snap that Trey Eolt< had to

restle don on a field goal attempt& Eolt< ill ta+e over for =axon Shipley, and is the first non"

receiver holder since (efore Cade 'cCreary&

I emphasi<e again that leg strength is not an issue for Rose& In arm ups, on a tee Rose san+ a

line"drive +ic+ from close to #% yards& In the game, he loo+ed a ton more comforta(le and

confident than he did one season ago& Rose hit four of his five attempts, including one from $

and another from .6& early every field goal as good from at least eight more yards& Rose’s

only miss had plenty of leg in it& Gnfortunately, he clan+ed it directly off the right upright and it



fell short& =ordan made his only attempt from ;! yard, (ut it’s clear he doesn’t have the leg Rose

does, and isn’t this teams +ic+er in $%-&

1esides Rose’s consistency, a ne holder and snapper, (loc+ing ill (e a thing to atch& The

offensive line’s struggles are ell documented, and that has the potential to carry into the special

teams unit& 2t one point, four line(ac+ers ere (ac+ to (loc+ on a punt, and 2lex /e 7a Torre

and 2ndre 1ec+ ill have to seal the edges on the field goal team&

7i+e the theme of the day, it’s time for cautious optimism& This special teams unit ill sho us

much more during the season, and ill (e remem(ered for its (lunders over its success’s& 2ll

Strong needs in his second year, is for the HSpecial Forces not to significantly hurt his chances

at o(taining victories&

Documents

Special Forces Report.docx