And those 3 would pistol whip us......Notable teams with kickoff return averages near TCU's 15.26:
#8 Georgia - 14.0
#9 Utah - 14.17
#10 Oklahoma - 16.2
I am not really sure this is an issue worth discussing.
With the rule changes how would this have affected Kerley and Rodgers careers?
Balls are different than brains.I hate the new rule. It may be smarter to fair catch, but I’m glad our players have balls and don’t.
The offense's current status is a major consideration to returning kickoffs. Not needed when you can move the ball at will, but when you can't, it's a competed screen completion in space.
Absolutely agree it's better statistically to fair catch, and for the 2009, 2010, and 2013 teams would make perfect sense. It's a decision now from a point of offensive weakness and makes sense as well.
When it makes no difference from a td-scoring perspective whether you start at the 10 or the 25, makes sense to take a chance.
Balls are different than brains.
Please for the love of God you media types ask at the next news conference [ What the heck? ] they continue to try to run back the kickoffs and give up tons of field position.
To me, one of the most frustrating things about our team all season is how often we choose to return vs taking the guaranteed start at the 25 yard line.
Gary's mindset is clearly that the upside of a big return is worth the risk of not getting it to the 25, which I would agree with in theory (especially with the explosive and fast players we have), but in application it has been absolutely atrocious.
We rank 125th (nearly dead last) in kickoff return average at 15.26 yards per return. If our returner isn't getting stuffed before the 25 yard line, it almost seems inevitable that the return gets called back for holding or blocking in the back.
Not to mention, there's the added risk of injury or turning the ball over. Darius Anderson missed the entire opening drive against Iowa State due to a cut he suffered on the game's first return. And without a massive stop by the defense and an improbable missed field goal by UT's kicker, Reagor's fumble on Saturday could have cost us the game.
I can't find a statistic to defend this (would love if someone can find anything), but I would have to guess when we've returned the kickoff this year, we get the ball past the 25 yard line less than 15% of the time. It just feels like it very rarely happens.
I'm not sure why our returns have been so bad this year (maybe it's because we don't have an actual special teams coach), but we're simply not very good at them. In past years you at least got the feeling that we were one block or missed tackle away from busting out with a big return, but this year it seems like we are getting stuffed almost every time.
At this point we just need to accept that we're not good at returning, eliminate the risk, and just take the ball at the 25 yard line every time.
Notable teams with kickoff return averages near TCU's 15.26:
#8 Georgia - 14.0
#9 Utah - 14.17
#10 Oklahoma - 16.2
I am not really sure this is an issue worth discussing.
Good point and kind of more in line with win by 1 / don't lose by a lot. 2014 correct; I'm getting old.The pessimist's view of the same point might be that when your offense is this bad you take free yards every time they're offered, and the situational difference of starting on your own ten vs. your own twenty-five could be very significant come time for your almost inevitable punt.
[Also, I think your mean 2014: our offense in 2013 was, well, this bad.]