(Photo: Tyler Paley/WCSN)
Much of the hype surrounding Arizona State coming into the season was placed on redshirt senior quarterback Mike Bercovici, or the defense and their barbaric blitzing, but who could have guessed the play of the special teams would be as crucial as it was in the week one defeat?
Poor special teams play has been a staple of ASU’s past, but this season was supposed to make amends for all that. A new coach with NFL experience, double the amount of attention placed in the department and a reimagined scheme were offered as reasons why.
Instead, Saturday’s loss for the Sun Devils was a carbon-copy of special teams’ struggles of old.
A punt returned for a touchdown, as well as a few poorly executed punts, turned out to make quite the difference in the loss, and new special teams coach Shawn Slocum recognizes they need to be better.
“We were disappointed that we didn’t win the game,” Slocum said. “And we need to play better.”
One of the areas that needs to be improved was the punting game. Junior punter Matt Haack surely didn’t look like himself, but Slocum said given the protection he was receiving, Haack did what he was expected of him.
“They pressured us a lot. A couple times we were poor in protection, Slocum said. “I think Matt (Haack) did a great job getting the ball off, and we should’ve done a better job of protection.”
That wasn’t the only area of concern on the punt team against Texas A&M, as the game’s biggest play was due to the poor punt coverage on freshman Christian Kirk’s punt return for a touchdown.
Kirk made another explosive play in the fourth quarter, turning a simple screen pass into a 66-yard touchdown, but Slocum said that despite Kirk’s big-play ability, his unit still could’ve done better in coverage.
“We had a couple guys out of there fill lanes and he took advantage of it,” Slocum said.
The punt team has nowhere to go but up after their first performance, and personnel isn’t an issue according to Slocum. With that being said, don’t be surprised if more starters are out on the punt team by the time Cal Poly rolls into town.
“We’ve got everybody involved,” Slocum said. “We didn’t play those guys last week but they’re involved and we’re continuing to develop the team.”
Slocum, in his first year at ASU after being a special teams coach for the Green Bay Packers, has brought experience and knowledge to this team. While he may bring in a more complex system than most college players are used to, Slocum wants to make it as easy on his players as possible.
“When players have to think, they aren’t playing as fast as they can,” Slocum said. “This is a reaction game and I think it’s important for us to put players in the position where they can react.”
He then referenced the leadership of the group– certainly an endorsement and a positive sign that his confidence remains unwavering.
“We’ve got a bunch of leaders, everybody on our team,” Slocum said. “We’re playing a bunch of our veteran players and I think everybody has got a leadership role.”
