2019 Indiana Football Season Special Teams Recap
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Image: Sarah Miller Hoosier Huddle
Written by: Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)
Hoosier Huddle continues their 2019 review of the Indiana football season with a closer look at how the special teams unit performed.
2019 Statistics
Preseason Recap
The Indiana Hoosiers entered the 2019 season with a mix of fresh faces and veterans on special teams. Punter Haydon Whitehead and place kicker Logan Justus returned after solid 2018 campaigns, but the Hoosiers were breaking in a new long snapper in Sean Wracher and a new kick returner in David Ellis. The Hoosiers would also need to find a replacement for punt returner J-Shun Harris who exhausted his eligibility and was one of the best punt returners in the league. They tried to fill the hole with dynamic receiver Whop Philyor. In an effort to keep kickers fresh, Indiana head coach Tom Allen split the kickoff duties between Nathanael Snyder and Jared Smolar.
2019 Season Recap
Let’s start from the finish and then circle back to the start of the 2019 season. After a solid, but not spectacular year for the unit, Indiana’s special teams coughed up a bowl victory after almost coughing up a win over Purdue and flat out cost them the game at Penn State. It was a terrible end for a unit who had some really bright spots, but failed to have many game breaking days.
The Hoosiers kicking game was really good through the first twelve games of the season. Punter Haydon Whitehead averaged 42.5 yards per punt and while he had one punt blocked, he pinned opponents inside their own 20-yard line 22 times and forcing opponents to fair catch punts 20 times on only 55 punts. The good news for Hoosier fans is that Whitehead was granted a sixth-year of eligibility and gives them one of the better punters in the league.
Logan Justus cruised through the first 12 games of the season by goal 12-for-12 on field goal attempts and only missing one extra point. He was reliable, heck almost automatic, as he started the season by setting new career longs three times against the Ball State Cardinals. However, everything changed at Purdue when he missed all three of his field goal attempts before being benched for Charles Campbell on a late attempt. It seemed like Justus never recovered from that performance as he missed an extra point and a what would have been a career-long 52-yard field goal in Indiana’s 23-22 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl loss to Tennessee. For those saying that Tom Allen “iced” Justus, it’s time to end that narrative. The referee was resetting the game clock and would not allow the ball to be snapped. While he ended his IU career under a storm cloud, Justus had a really solid two seasons to close out his time with the Hoosiers.
In an effort to keep legs fresh for the entire season, Allen and Inge decided that splitting the kickoff duties was the way to go. Nathanael Snyder was the main guy, but struggled as he kicked three out of bounds and had a touchback rate of under 50-percent. Jared Smolar, who kicked off in 2018 as well, was the player Allen and Inge turned to when they needed a touchdown as 19 of his 24 kickoffs went unreturned.
What gets lost in the numbers of college football is average starting field position for teams. It is a major indicator of the result of the game. This year the Hoosiers average starting field position was their own 28.8-yard line. For the sake of things, let’s say an average team should start at their own 25-yard line (that’s if they fair catch everything). So IU was +3.8 in that department. IU’s opponents started drives on average at their own 26.7-yard line. On the year IU had a +2.1-yard advantage on their opponents, it may not seem like much, but it matters. There is room for improvement however.
The Hoosiers return units were not great this season. Freshman David Ellis looked as if he could break a long return at any time early in the year, but maybe hit a wall later in the season. Ellis did have 28 returns for 579 yards, good for a 20.7-yard average.
The punt return game was non-existent in 2019 for IU and could be categorized as a liability. Whop Philyor had high expectations as a returner, but he did not do much on his 15 attempts. He netted just 49 yards on returns and one more than one occasion tried to do too much and either turned the ball over (Penn State) or cost Indiana valuable field position. Philyor and the return team also fell victim to untimely penalties that played a role in the loss at Michigan State as a long return that could have pushed Indiana’s lead got called back.
2020 Expectations
The Hoosiers special teams unit has to do more in 2020. It’s that simple. They cannot just be an average unit, they need to provide some sort of advantage for them to take the next step. This unit looks to be under new leadership next season as all signs are pointing to William Inge taking the defensive coordinator job at Fresno State.
The Hoosiers will return Whitehead, Charles Campbell who hit both of his field goals this season, Ellis and Sean Wracher at long snapper. Snyder and Smolar both return and having them both kick-off is probably going to be the plan again. Whop Philyor has decided to return for his senior season and he will probably lobby to return punts. However, Reese Taylor is dynamic with the ball in his hands as well and had a long return of 10 yards this year and should have a shot at the starting job.
Highlights
Aaron Casey Blocked Punt vs. Eastern Illinois
Logan Justus resets his career long field goal three times vs. Ball State