Oregon Ducks Football: Scouting Arizona State’s Special Teams
By Brian Spaen
It’s a mixed bag for the special teams unit for Arizona State. The Sun Devils shine with a quirky transfer at punter and a really good kickoff man. But the same player on kickoffs hasn’t been consistent with field goals, and the sophomore finds himself in a battle with a junior transfer.
Will Garoutte have another chance at field goals this week? Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE
Special Teams Breakdown
- Field Goals: 9th in conference (made 7-12)
- PATs: Have made 30-31
- Punt Returns: 9th in conference (7 yd average)
- Kickoff Returns: 1st in conference (26.23 yd average)
Who is the punter?
Josh Hubner is a JUCO transfer from Scottsdale Community College, and he’s definitely a character by being the only athlete in his family. Very spiritual and inked-up all over, the senior has had 21 punts for a 45.43 average. 10 punts have been kicked inside the 20 yard line, 7 of them were 50+ yard bombs, and only three have reached the endzone. Zero of his punts have been blocked so far this year.
Quarterback Taylor Kelly has also punted the ball three times, all of them landing inside the 20.
Who is the place kicker?
Right now, this is an unstable position. Alex Garoutte is just 6-10 on the year himself, and Todd Graham has seen enough. JUCO transfer Jon Mora has attempted two field goals, one miss against Utah and making the one and only attempt against Colorado last week. Per Sun Devils beat writer William Boor:
[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/wboor/statuses/255728253141123072?tw_i=255728253141123072&tw_e=details&tw_p=tweetembed”]
With it being an open competition each week, who knows who will make it out to the field against the Ducks. Mora took over extra points for the first time last week, and made just one of two.
In better news for Garoutte, he still remains as the kickoff man. He’s let just under half of his kicks reach the endzone for a touchback, and the coverage has been solid. Teams average around a 20 yard return and the longest run has just been 24 yards.
Which players can make an impact returning the ball?
Jamal Miles is usually the guy collecting the kickoff and punt returns, and he has pretty standard stats – 21.1 yard kickoff return average and 7.9 yard punt return average. However, Roshad Ross has a 100-yard kickoff return for touchdown last week against Colorado.
Brian Spaen is the lead editor for Autzen Zoo. See his banter with other FanSided writers and love for his favorite west coast professional teams by following him on Twitter.
Read his other work on the Iowa State blog, Clones Confidential, and Lacrosse the Web.