The Value of Special Teams
I live in Las Vegas and have been a season ticket holder of UNLV football since I moved here in 2000 from Kansas City. Nah, I’m not sadomasochistic, I love football and I no longer have KC Chiefs or University of Kansas games to go to. Plus, I believe in sponsoring your local teams.
UNLV beat then #13 Arizona State in Tempe early in the year. (side note: early polls can be really, really wrong!) Then Big 12 Iowa State came to town and the Rebels jump out to a 28-0 lead. UNLV almost choked but held on for the victory. It might not sound like much to SEC or Big Ten fans, but for UNLV to beat two BCS schools on back to back weekends after three straight years of two-wins per season, it was like hitting an eight spot in Keno.
In the past three games, UNLV has blown leads in the last three minutes on their way to a loss. This past week’s blown game was at BYU, long time Mountain West stalwart. The game illustrates the importance of special teams.
First, the UNLV kicking team lets BYU return the opening kickoff 75 yards. A few plays later, the Cougars take advantage of the short field and go in for the touchdown.
The next special teams snafu happened when UNLV had to start a drive from it’s own one-yard line after BYU downed a punt there. The Cougars excellent special teams play continued as they blocked the forthcoming UNLV punt getting the ball at UNLV’s 5-yard line. Two plays later, BYU had their second short-field touchdown. That has to be a downer for a team’s defensive unit to be put into such crappy situations multiple times in the same game.
The coaching of special teams and their execution continued to have an effect in this game. With over 10 minutes to go in the game and only down by three points, UNLV was facing 4th and 3 from its own 34 yard line. The UNLV brain trust sends in their punter. But wait, the Rebels line up in a normal offensive set. except their punter is not back the normal 15 yards but only about 6 or 7 yards. BYU stays with their normal defense obviously not fooled at all. The punter throws a pass which is deflected by BYU.
Normally, when you fake a punt, don’t you really…. “fake the punt”? I don’t recall ever seeing a team put their punter in at basically the quarterback spot and go for it from a normal offensive set. Such is life as a UNLV fan. UNLV went on to lose the game as BYU scored the winning touchdown in the last two minutes of the game.
Shaky special teams play doesn’t always cost a team a straight-up win. However, when you are betting on games, it can have an effect on your bankroll. A fourth quarter missed extra point by the Nebraska kicker (who hadn’t missed a point after since his Pop Warner days) cost people who had Nebraska at -12 or higher a win (such as myself).
While the Nebraska incident is really just a ticked off gambler ranting, football bettors should pay attention to how a team’s special teams perform. The value of a good punter helped BYU beat UNLV. Starting field position on drives is extremely important. Look at the difference between team’s punters and return teams. Some coaches such as Frank Beamer and Urban Meyer always seem to have superior special teams. You might be surprised on how much influence special teams have on who wins the game and covers the point spread.
