Last year Coach Miles changed LSU's punt formation with disasterous results. We went from #5 in the nation to #50 something. This year he plans to use the same formation, utilizing three protectors and gaps in the offensive line. He seems certain the punting will improve. My position has always been if you are #5 in the nation, you don't need "improvement." I am willing to give him the opportunity to prove his point, but if by the middle of the season we haven't seen significant improvement over last year, he needs to go back to the old formation. Any thoughts?
That punt formation scares me too. Why give such great athletes that much of a running start at our punter? It looks like a formation that a team might have used 50 years ago before they figured out it sucked and switched to what most teams use today. If it holds up against V Tech without being blocked, we'll know it's ok. I bet Beamer is licking his chops though.
I don't often question the coaches because they produce results and I'm sure they know their players' abilities better than me. Even considering that, I have a hard time understanding what Miles sees in this punt formation. I think we're better than Va Tech but not enough to where we can afford to give up points on special teams. Does anybody know if he used this at Ok State?
The blocks weren’t the problem, but our punting game was not a strong point either. Jackson punted 37 times for a 41.9 average. The team's net punting average was a miserable 32.9 yards. It was new to everyone last year and a lot of attn. has been given to the formation in practices- supposedly the guys up front have been working on their steps to get out quicker and are showing a lot more confidence out of this formation. In this alignment, there are three personal protectors- tight ends Keith Zinger and Mit Cole and fullback Quinn Johnson. According to Fisher, there has been a rotation of the gunners, including Early Doucet, Brandon LaFell and R.J. Jackson. O'Hairwill be flanked by Jacob Hester and Kelvin Sheppard. Patrick Fisher, will be our punter. He’s punted just six times in his LSU career. Our kickoff team had better numbers. Opponents averaged slightly less than 20 yards per kickoff return last season and a lot of that had to do with Jackson kicking it out of the endzone. With the new rule, a lot of the balls are landing on the 10 or 5. There will be more returns but our coverage will be solid with the likes of Curtis Taylor, Harry Coleman, Craig Steltz, Hester and Chris Hawkins.
The problem is we may not see it until the VT game. How many 3 and outs will we have with Miss State... :lol:
In fact, LSU was #106 in punt return yardage defense last season. The year before we were the #15. I didn't blame that on the punt formation or the punter, but on the poor downfield coverage. ncaa.org
Fisher will be a great punter for LSU. When I used to be a manager, we'd go shag footballs for the kickers and the big guy, and he is a big boy, 6'5" with some weight on him during practice would punt 60+ yards with a perfect spiral. Problem was he would shank a bunch too but hopefully he's fixed that by now.
It has been reported that Fisher hasn't previously gotten the hang time that the coaches need. Hopefully he's fixed that, too.
Miles or Pelini has stated that it is not the same formation they will use this year. He said it will be a change that LSU fans will be happy with. Red had a good description of the formation in the "Kick and Punt Returners" Thread.
More accurately, it was special teams coach Peveto, who said that they would use the same formation, but that it would have different looks and that he thought the fans would be pleased.
