Thoughts on AU special teams

[StatTiger 3,188]

Despite not putting up dominating numbers on offense or defense, the Auburn Tigers are 7-1 on the season with victories over two top-ten opponents. The most consistent area of the 2006 Auburn Tigers has been the play of the special teams. Special teams played a major role in victories over LSU and Florida.

Here are some notes of interest regarding Auburn’s special teams…

*Auburn is No. 2 in the SEC in kick returns and Tristan Davis leads the SEC in yards per return.

*Auburn is No. 1 in the SEC in net putting and Kody Bliss is No. 2 in overall punt average.

*Auburn is No.3 in the SEC in FG pct.

*In terms of kickoff coverage, Auburn has only allowed 6 kick returns in 8 games. The second lowest number is 15 by Ole Miss. Matt Clark has registered 36 touchbacks on 43 kickoffs.

*Comparing Auburn special teams over the last 20 years, the 2006 unit ranks No. 1 based on KR average, PR average, FG pct and punt average. The 2006 special teams was No. 2 in KR’s, No. 14 in PR’s, No. 4 in FG Pct and No. 2 in punt average for an average ranking of 5.5. The 2004 team was No. 2 with a 6.5 rating.

Special Teams Rankings:

Rnk..... Year

5.50... 2006

6.50... 2004

7.75... 1997

8.25... 2001

9.50... 2005

9.75... 1999

10.00... 1993

10.00... 1995

10.00... 1989

10.25... 2000

10.50... 1991

10.75... 1990

11.00... 1996

11.25... 1992

12.00... 2003

12.50... 1987

12.75... 1998

13.75... 1994

13.75... 2002

14.25... 1988

With the recent rule changes in the time clock, field position has really become a major factor in ball games. Note the following percentages of our opponent’s field position.

Pct of possessions starting from their own 20 or worse:

2003: 51.2%

2004: 64.7%

2005: 53.7%

2006: 65.0%

Pct of possessions starting from their own 30 or worse:

2003: 66.3%

2004: 78.4%

2005: 74.1%

2006: 80.0%

Pct of possessions starting on Auburn’s side of the field:

2003: 7.8%

2004: 11.1%

2005: 9.5%

2006: 5.0%

Kody Bliss, John Vaughn and Matt Clark have probably been the most consistent players on the Auburn football team. Bliss and Clark have been essential in putting AU opponent’s in poor field position. Vaughn has bounced back from an average year to be one of the top place-kickers in the Southeastern Conference. Without the superb performance by Auburn’s special teams, the Tigers could easily be 5-3 or even 4-4 on the season. Replacing all three kickers in 2007 will be a major task.

[DCWarEagle 0]

Those are interesting numbers. The outstanding kicking has definitely not gone unnoticed. I still say Kody Bliss was the MVP of the LSU game.

The only game where our kickers were off: Arkansas. And we all saw how that turned out.

Good point about having to replace all of them next year. That's going to be a tall order.

[otterinbham 0]

Thank you Stat. Valuable insight.

Here's my often-asked question, however. What has happened to the coffin corner kick? I remember in the 70s and 80s, Auburn had punters who were supremely good at the coffin corner. Yet, today, you rarely see it with any team.

Is this my imagination? Or has the coffin corner become a lost art among special teams everywhere?

[aerotiger 0]

That's some great info, stat. Our tigers have really been dominant this year in special teams.

I am especially queasy about next year for 3 reasons:

1. We lose all our special teams

2. We lose most of our OL

3. Our away games include LSU, UF, and UGA

[Boonan 0]

Thank you Stat. Valuable insight.

Here's my often-asked question, however. What has happened to the coffin corner kick? I remember in the 70s and 80s, Auburn had punters who were supremely good at the coffin corner. Yet, today, you rarely see it with any team.

Is this my imagination? Or has the coffin corner become a lost art among special teams everywhere?

Pardon my ignorance, but what is a coffin corner?

[aerotiger 0]

That's where you punt the ball out of bounds inside the five yard line. .

[JB33 1]

Did Matt Clark ever get a scholarship? If not, he's worth one . . .

[Boonan 0]

That's where you punt the ball out of bounds inside the five yard line. .

That's what my guess was.

[cehuff21 0]

I could completely wrong about this but I was watching a Dolphins game and the announcer was talking about how punters have become increasingly better and more knowledgeable on how to kick the ball and make the ball take a backwards bounce or even sideways (allowing it to stay out of the endzone). With the coffin corner kick, although effective, this does put you in danger of shanking one and instead of getting a bounce to help recover the shank the ball travels out of bounds and you end up with a 13 yard punt.