What do we know about our new starting punter?

[McLoofus 35,182]

Was Terry Daniel the punter that Jackie Sherrill accused of punting with helium in the football? That was funny for sure!

Yup. Dude kicked the stitches off the ball every time. He just had freakish leg strength. Probably what Sebastian Janikowski would've looked like as a punter.

[Mikey 16,601]

In GUS I trust

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I don't know. Maybe it means there is no point in discussing anything on a message board? Just go fishin' and leave all the talk to Gus?

[JFDTiger80 790]

What I have heard.... Nothing spectacular,but steady. I think you are looking at 40-45yard punts....

Steven Clark was our best punter since Terry Daniel, and his punts tended to be 40-45 yarders that stayed in the air long enough for his coverage to catch up to them. That high trajectory is also part of what allowed him to pin so many inside the 10. If this kid can do that, then I'd call that spectacular.

What made Steven Clark so incredible was his ability to stick the ball inside the 10 yard line. If our new punter can even come close to where Clark was at, I would be more than happy.

One thing Clarke was able to do that you rarely see is when putting inside the 20, he was able to put some sort of backspin on the ball so it would not go into the end zone. Our coverage people did not even have to have great skill at downing the ball before it ran quickly through the end zone because Clarke was able to make it not reach the end zone. He was an excellent punter.

[AU64 10,122]

What I have heard.... Nothing spectacular,but steady. I think you are looking at 40-45yard punts....

Steven Clark was our best punter since Terry Daniel, and his punts tended to be 40-45 yarders that stayed in the air long enough for his coverage to catch up to them. That high trajectory is also part of what allowed him to pin so many inside the 10. If this kid can do that, then I'd call that spectacular.

What made Steven Clark so incredible was his ability to stick the ball inside the 10 yard line. If our new punter can even come close to where Clark was at, I would be more than happy.

One thing Clarke was able to do that you rarely see is when putting inside the 20, he was able to put some sort of backspin on the ball so it would not go into the end zone. Our coverage people did not even have to have great skill at downing the ball before it ran quickly through the end zone because Clarke was able to make it not reach the end zone. He was an excellent punter.

This....and though many of his punts were barely 40 yards, he had very few returns against him. His "net" punting numbers were very good although he generally was not able to "flip the field" like some guys we've had in the past.

Guess we will find out what Phillips can do when he is punting from the end zone. JMO but we need lots of improvement in those situations.

[aucanucktiger 1,794]

Back to the original question. (I may have missed it but did we really get to page 4 of this punting thread without anybody typing "Ian Shannon"?)

Ian's a very good punter - #2 punter in last year's prokicker.co national rankings. Notwithstanding Ian's even better as a kicker (the jump from high school is less a factor for punting than any other position in college, IMO) and the fact Ian's NOT our starting punter for game #1 is very, very encouraging. IMHO.

[MadtownTiger 363]

In his two years in JUCO Phillips averaged 39.3 and 39.9 yards per punt. I assume at Auburn he'll work with a more reliable snapper, as well as better coaches, and be in better physical condition, so maybe that will help with consistency and perhaps improve his average a bit. Don't know what kind of hang time he typically gets.

In HS Shannon averaged 40.3 and 38.0 per punt as a junior and senior. Great placekicker as well.

If they're even, I suppose it makes sense to preserve Shannon's eligibility.

WDE!

[yngwie1995 2,229]

Here's a video of him kicking. Sorry, don't know how to embed.

https://www.youtube....ed/UK6CJnyDSqk

[ausburn 159]

Here's a video of him kicking. Sorry, don't know how to embed.

https://www.youtube....ed/UK6CJnyDSqk

[Tiger1992 999]

The only thing I know about him is that the likes pina coladas. And getting caught in the rain.

[Turd Ferguson 38]

Punter? We don't need no stinkin' punter!

[Gibson SG 88]

What I have heard.... Nothing spectacular,but steady. I think you are looking at 40-45yard punts....

Steven Clark was our best punter since Terry Daniel, and his punts tended to be 40-45 yarders that stayed in the air long enough for his coverage to catch up to them. That high trajectory is also part of what allowed him to pin so many inside the 10. If this kid can do that, then I'd call that spectacular.

Cody Bliss was pretty good for the 2003-2006 teams. He was one of the innovators of the rugby punt. They had a lot of distance and weren't regularly returned.

[McFU 205]

Legitimate question given our serious liability at that position last year.

His name is Kevin Phillips

[Gibson SG 88]

I saw him punting in a scrimmage earlier this fall. He didn't have really long kicks, but he had good hang time and his punts turned over which could help the back spin and getting the ball to stay out of the endzone.

[wareagle13 88]

Clarke had a good leg. The problem that plagued his average, and the reason he had such a good inside the 20/inside the 10 ratio is he did a lot of punting after stalled drives. He was working on a reduced field I remember a lot of punts coming just after we hit the 45 or 50. So his game at that point wasn't to boom it. He was also masterful at putting the ball in the corner. When you put the ball on the side line your taking overall distance off, but you're limiting the field a returner has to work with and allows your coverage team to have less area to cover.

[AUloggerhead 2,231]

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/98

Alabama led the nation in net punting last year with an average of 44.67 yds. Navy, Memphis & Boise St. tied for 50th in the nation with an average of 37.97 yds. Roughly speaking, a net punting average between 38-45 yds should rank a team in the top 50. Punting is situational. It does no good to have a punter who can consistently "down it inside the opponent's 10" when you're punting from inside your own 10 -- that's when you need a punter who can flip the field with consistent 60-70 yarders. Great punters are a bonus. I'd rather see the offense consistently move the ball and not rely on the need for having a great punter. A top 50 net punting team would satisfy me.

[JFDTiger80 790]

http://www.ncaa.com/...current/team/98

Alabama led the nation in net punting last year with an average of 44.67 yds. Navy, Memphis & Boise St. tied for 50th in the nation with an average of 37.97 yds. Roughly speaking, a net punting average between 38-45 yds should rank a team in the top 50. Punting is situational. It does no good to have a punter who can consistently "down it inside the opponent's 10" when you're punting from inside your own 10 -- that's when you need a punter who can flip the field with consistent 60-70 yarders. Great punters are a bonus. I'd rather see the offense consistently move the ball and not rely on the need for having a great punter. A top 50 net punting team would satisfy me.

Nice information. I will have to say if I got to choose, I would want both. I would want an excellent punter that could flip the field and I would also want my offense to be able to consistently move the ball. I am a bit selfish though. I would like a top 10 everything and I would be happiest if we beat all our opponents by 20 or more points and UGA and Bama by more than that.

[Richard78 73]

Fountain: "Sometimes you get a really nice big kick out of him, but the hang time always matches," Fountain said. "Sometimes you'd like them to be a little bit farther, but the hang time is still really good. That's really the most important thing to me. We would like to be around 40-plus (per punt)."

[JoeBags7277 734]

The only thing I know about him is that the likes pina coladas. And getting caught in the rain.

That's the second time someone has gotten that song stuck in my head today, and its only 5 AM.

[thaitopher 807]

Of all the things that have gone wrong with this team the last 3 games, punting isn't one of them. Good job "Sunshine." Hope Auburn gives you a scholarship.

[McLoofus 35,182]

Of all the things that have gone wrong with this team the last 3 games, punting isn't one of them. Good job "Sunshine." Hope Auburn gives you a scholarship.

Agreed. I'm not into the overly emotional threads that have been popping up to counter the negativity (which I mostly construe as accurate observations of the product we've put on the field so far), but I'm all for giving credit where due. Phillips is a freaking stud. Except for the one bad kickoff against Jax State, the kicking game in general has been quite an asset. Scott Fountain's got this. Rich Bisaccia can suck it (TOTALLY kidding, Coach.)