Special Teams

huskerfan74 said:
I am sorry but I am having a very difficult time believeing that Frost asked Lightbourn to onside kick the ball. He is just trying cover for his kicker’s horrible blunder which will be highlighted in ESPN’s not so top 10 plays. Asking Lightbourn to execute an onside kick is like asking a seven year old to dunk a basketball.
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Come on - there is zero chance that the play was anything except onside kick.  the entire left side of the line was attacking to a certain area and at least one if not two were offside.

 
Is there a chance that the team is spending so much time focusing on installing the offense and defense that the ST's has taken a back burner.  Also as mentioned above our D depth isn't great and that shows up on ST more than anywhere.

We should see a better unit next year and the third version should be great with the addition of more recruits over the next 2 years.

 
GBRFAN said:
Is there a chance that the team is spending so much time focusing on installing the offense and defense that the ST's has taken a back burner.  Also as mentioned above our D depth isn't great and that shows up on ST more than anywhere.

We should see a better unit next year and the third version should be great with the addition of more recruits over the next 2 years.
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I have said this all season. Frost and staff has been trying to install new offenses and defenses, along with instilling a new culture. Plus, they had a returning 2-year starter and scholarship player at punter. They didn’t expect him to be a complete failure. They probably tried to just get by on special teams this year. Unfortunately, NU was in some close games which special teams had cost the team some games. I expect the ST to improve significantly going forward. 

 
Does CL transfer after the season?  He has had such a weird career here between the SF situation and now a staff that shows they would prefer a walk on that "earns" the job.  Did he use a redshirt?

 
GBRFAN said:
Does CL transfer after the season?  He has had such a weird career here between the SF situation and now a staff that shows they would prefer a walk on that "earns" the job.  Did he use a redshirt?
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He hasn’t red shirted yet.

I feel bad for the kid.  He was put in a tough spot when he got here and really never responded.

I don’t think you should ever Scholly a punter until they are in the program.  PK maybe, but Punter....nope.

 
gobiggergoredder said:
He hasn’t red shirted yet.

I feel bad for the kid.  He was put in a tough spot when he got here and really never responded.

I don’t think you should ever Scholly a punter until they are in the program.  PK maybe, but Punter....nope.
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Frost is going with that route of not giving new punters a scholarship until they earn it. It worked great for NU for years.  Probably a good philosophy going forward. 

 
gobiggergoredder said:
He hasn’t red shirted yet.

I feel bad for the kid.  He was put in a tough spot when he got here and really never responded.

I don’t think you should ever Scholly a punter until they are in the program.  PK maybe, but Punter....nope.
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I feels for him too.  His transition to college ball was abrupt and he's never quite caught up.  

 
ColoradoHusk said:
Frost is going with that route of not giving new punters a scholarship until they earn it. It worked great for NU for years.  Probably a good philosophy going forward. 
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Punter is one of the only spots in a program you could literally ask anyone on the team to do.  Your punter goes down and you have a tryout.  You could find 3-5 kids all day that can kick a worm burner 35 yards.

 
gobiggergoredder said:
Punter is one of the only spots in a program you could literally ask anyone on the team to do.  Your punter goes down and you have a tryout.  You could find 3-5 kids all day that can kick a worm burner 35 yards.
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I agree with you, and I think you are exaggerating/being sarcastic. I wouldn’t take a worm burner 35 yards, but NU would constantly take walk-ons who were great high school football players/athletes and make them into all-conference and future NFL punters. Bill LaFleur, Kyle Larson, and Sam Koch are a few that come to mind. Even Alex Henery was able to come in as a walk-on and do a great job of pulling double duty as PK and punter. 

 
I am hoping that our UNSPECIAL teams are watching the Northwestern SPECIAL teams do what special teams are designed to do. I can only hope that one day we will actually be able to block a punt. Actually, I will settle for us even try to go after a punt. We do not even try. And that is ENTIRLEY on the unspecial teams coach. 

 
PaulCrewe said:
-2 yards in punt return yards(including one costly non catch), 13 yard average on kick returns, blocked punt for a safety and whatever the hell the first kickoff was.  

I’d say Scott may want to look into this phase of the game a little
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Punt returns are the worst I've ever seen. It seems like we always start at the 10 due to a fair catch or the ball bouncing down there. Doubt we ever try to block one either. But at least we don't have a blocking penalty every time.

 
Blackshirts007 said:
Lightbourn is truly the definition of special. 
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After a 5 second "WTH" moment, I winced thinking about that poor kid.  I knew he'd be on ESPN and will be ridiculed harshly for quite some time.  I do feel bad for the guy.  I know he doesn't go out there trying to whiff.  Speaks more about our recruiting than him I think.. If he's the best we got?

 
grandpasknee said:
After a 5 second "WTH" moment, I winced thinking about that poor kid.  I knew he'd be on ESPN and will be ridiculed harshly for quite some time.  I do feel bad for the guy.  I know he doesn't go out there trying to whiff.  Speaks more about our recruiting than him I think.. If he's the best we got?
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I find it hard to believe there isn’t a high school kid out there somewhere that would love a chance to play for this program that could do a better job. I feel bad for CL as well but at some point you have to be accountable for results. 

 
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