USC vs. OSU: Those Special Teams

These are the teams that ride the short bus, like UCLA and Notre Dame. I kid, I kid! But seriously, USC’s special teams are rather poor. Let’s delve right in to the special teams matchup that will be hitting you in slightly more than the usual number of dimensions on Saturday evening, presuming you have tickets or live in the middle of nowhere, Texas.

USC has, for the first time since 2001, has a dedicated special teams coach - his name is Brian Schneider. And no, not the same Brian Schneider who catches for the Mets. Will this new position help out USC’s special teams? Or will the loss of David Buehler’s unnecessary strength cause problems for our kicking game?

Schneider came to Troy fresh off a two-year stint as the Special Teams Coach at the Oakland Raiders, which presumably would be an easy job, what with serial gymnast Johnnie Lee Higgins, solid kicker Sebastian Janikowski, and 1st team all-pro punter Shane Lechler. Oh, and don’t forget that Al Davis is doing nothing but drafting the top 40 yard dash time at this point.

Even with all that talent, Schneider didn’t exactly acquit himself well in Oakland - the Raiders were below the league average in every statistical category save for punting distance. But even then, the punt coverage units were mediocre. Nonetheless, the special teams were a strong point on these abysmal Raiders teams. OK, so maybe “strong point” isn’t the best term. Maybe we’ll go with “less bad.”

Nonetheless, Schneider comes to USC after having been highly praised for his work in Oakland. And I’m sure he’s plenty talented. And I bet he wanted to get away from Al Davis. But I’d be willing to bet that one Lane Kiffin, previously of USC and Oakland Raiders fame, might have had something to do with the hiring.

For actual USC-based analysis, let’s look at our only data point: the San Jose State game.

Kickoff Unit:

This unit got a lot of action - USC kicked off nine times in the game. The average kick was picked up at San Jose State’s 2.5 yard line, and Jake Harfman sent three kicks back for touchbacks. Off the kickoffs, San Jose State’s average starting point was on the 23 yard line. That’s a solid effort put in by USC - the kickoff unit looks good.

Kickoff Returns:

This unit didn’t get as much practice. The two returns, though both good, aren’t enough of a sample size to reasonably draw conclusions. Obviously, this unit will be key against OSU - they cannot fumble the ball and need to get USC good field position. Look for CJ Gable and Curtis McNeal to put a premium on protecting the ball.

Punt Unit:

This unit was the weak point of the special teams effort. Billy O’Malley won the job before the SJSU game and has kept the job through the OSU matchup. We go to the Horseshoe with the punter we have, not the punter we might wish to have.

As has been previously noted in this space, Mr. O’Malley punted for an average of less than 35 yards, and his awful punt in the first quarter set up a field goal for the Spartans. Nonetheless, his punts were difficult to return and he downed three punts inside the Spartan 20 yard line. The results should be better in the punting game next week, but we’ll have to see. Keep an eye on this unit - it will prove important in the field position battle.

Punt Returns:

After last year, all Trojans fans want out of a punt returner is a fair catch. Damien Williams is handling punts this year after last year’s crew was unable to keep their hands on the ball. Joe McKnight and some other Trojan athletes were trotted out to return punts later in the game, and thankfully no fumbles resulted. USC only returned 3 out of 12 punts, but averaged nearly 10 yards per return on those three kicks.

Field Goals:

USC made 8 straight extra points and SJSU made a 30-yard field goal. Nothing special.

Bottom Line: USC needs to avoid big mistakes, especially fumbles and bad punts. If the Trojans can keep the field position battle even, then the special teams unit will have done its job.

Ohio State

Ohio State’s special teams are solid, but not exceptional. Some quick notes from the Navy game:

The kickoff unit forced Navy to start drives within their own red zone, on average.

The kickoff return unit returned kicks for an average of 28 yards.

The punting unit averaged 45 yards per punt.

Obviously, Brian Rolle’s interception return two points on Navy’s two-point conversion

Overall, the special teams for Ohio State looked excellent - no significant problems to notice. The Buckeyes have plenty of athletes to plug into special teams, so they should be a formidable opponent for Brian Schneider. It’s tough to glean information from their performance against Navy for a couple of reasons. First, the entire OSU team played terribly, so all prognostications for the offense and defense will discount the Navy contest to some extent. Obviously, it shouldn’t be any different for the special teams. Second, OSU and Navy had long, time-eating drives, so there were relatively few special teams plays. Fewer plays means a smaller sample size.

Bottom Line:

USC needs to avoid mistakes and get decent field position. The punting needs to improve.

Ohio State, given that they’re a bit outmatched on both sides of the ball, will likely need some big special teams plays to win.

The special teams matchups should be a huge key in Saturday’s contest.