Special Teams is Key For a Breakthrough in 2017 For Indiana

Griffin Oakes needs to regain his 2015 form if IU wants to Breakthrough Image: Indystar.com

Written By Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

One of Indiana’s biggest bugaboos in 2016 was their performance on special teams. The Hoosiers ranked 99th in the country in this area of the game according to S&P+. 99th is simply not good enough if Indiana is going to have the kind of season that head coach Tom Allen and the Hoosier faithful want.

Kicking Game

Senior kicker Griffin Oakes is one made field goal shy of becoming the all-time leader in made field goals in Indiana Football history. What the Hoosiers need is for Oakes to return to his 2015 form when he took home Big Ten Kicker of the Year honors and forget about his dreadful 2016 campaign.

Nobody really knew what was ailing Oakes in 2016 when he only hit 61.5 percent of his field goals. Kevin Wilson hinted at a quad injury and current head coach Tom Allen said he struggled because a lack of protection while kicking got to his head. Either way going 16-of-26 again will not be good enough. Oakes will also have to up his touchback percentage from 40.3 percent. Behind Oakes is Logan Justus who hasn’t kicked in a game since high school in 2014.

Punter

The Hoosiers ranked 75th in punt success rate with Joseph Gedeon booting the ball last season. Gedeon punted 61 times in 2016 pinning the opponent inside the 20 13 times and forcing nine fair catches. His biggest issues are his propensity for having punts blocked and a lack of consistency.

He was so inconsistent that Tom Allen had to go to Australia to bring in Hayden Whitehead, a punter from the acclaimed ProKick Australia program. Whitehead is the starter and is backed up by Drew Conrad, a walk-on from Center Grove, or Gedeon. Whitehead had an excellent spring and should help boost IU’s special teams ratings and even out the hidden yardage battle that IU has lost the last several games.

Return Game

The Hoosiers lost a very good punt returner in Mitchell Paige and the rest of the kick return units need to show vast improvements should Indiana be great on special teams.

Devonte Williams was decent last year, but never broke a long return. If coach Allen improves the blocking scheme, Williams will be a game changer on returns. Cole Gest is listed as the secondary kick returner and has the burst to get through initial contact.

J-Shun Harris, finally back healthy after two ACL injuries will be the primary punt returner and could be as good as Paige. If Harris can’t go sure handed wide receiver Luke Timian will field punts.

2017 Outlook

Indiana must be better on special teams in 2017 and they have upgraded at punter and have put more focus on the rest of the units as well. If Griffin Oakes can return to his 2015 self then IU could have one of the better special teams units in the Big Ten. If Oakes has a setback then IU may struggle to keep up with last year’s numbers.