I saw this on another board, wish I had the link the orignal article but I don't.... One year ago, no Southeastern Conference team had a higher net punting average than LSU. Chris Jackson handled all but three of the Tigers' 63 punts last season and had a 39.0 net average. Only four teams in the country had a better net punting mark than the Tigers. Jackson, who did have a punt blocked in the SEC championship game against Georgia, placed 26 kicks inside the opponents' 20-yard line. Opposing punt returners fair caught 26 kicks and averaged just 5.7 yards on the 14 they did bring back. Despite all the success during the 2005 season, the LSU coaching staff decided to adjust its punt formation for this year. The Tigers switched to the now fashionable rugby punt style. LSU saw a few teams on its schedule last season use this method of punting. The rugby style has the punter roll out before kicking the ball. The Tigers blocked such a punt against Arizona State in the season opener last year. As the season wore on, some LSU opponents employed this strategy to keep the ball away from premier punt returner Skyler Green. "During the summer, the coaches decided to go to the rugby style of punt scheme," Jackson said. "I thought we were doing fine with how we were doing it. (Special teams coordinator) coach (Bradley Dale) Peveto and coach (Les) Miles came to me about it." The switch in punting schemes has not produced similar results as a year ago. The Tigers' net punting average at the midway part of the regular season is 31.3 – almost eight yards less than last season's best in the SEC mark. LSU is currently 12th in net punting. Two of Jackson's punts have been blocked – one by Arizona and one by Florida. Only three of Jackson's 17 punts have landed inside the opponents' 20-yard line. Opposing punt returns have fair caught three kicks and have averaged 15.6 on the five they have run back. According to Jackson, the Tigers are not using the true rugby style. "We are doing it a little bit different," Jackson said. "Normally, you kick it and let it roll. We try to kick the ball with height. We have different blocking points." There are three personal protectors in the rugby punting scheme. The kicker rolls out before punting. Jackson is not running before kicking. He is remaining in the punter's pocket. "The whole year we have been getting used to the new scheme," Jackson said. "The coaches just told me that the rugby style best fits our personnel. Both punt blocks have come from the right side." The rugby punting scheme is designed to help teams who have trouble covering punts. By rolling out, the punter enables the gunners to get down the field faster. The Tigers had no problem in covering punts last season. When questioned about the new punt formation, Miles appeared to be taking the copy-cat approach. He did have some incorrect information when explaining his reasoning. "Of the top ten teams in the country a year ago, three ran the exact same punt formation we do," Miles said. "Florida runs the same formation and was ahead of us in the national rankings a year ago." Florida did not finish with a higher net punting average than LSU in 2005. The Gators are substantially ahead of the Tigers in net punting this season. Florida has a net punting average of 40.7 yards – second best in the SEC behind South Carolina (42.2). Miles also indicated that having different personnel is a reason for the change in punting schemes. "You have to do the things your personnel can do," Miles said. "This formation really fits our personnel better. That is the reason we changed. It should give you greater protection when you change the blocking points. It gives you greater coverage down the field." Obviously, those facts are in theory. Opposing teams have gotten a hand on two Jackson punts and have a high average on their returns. The only personnel Miles mentioned were the deep snappers. Gant Petty was the deep snapper last year. Jacob O'Hair was the snapper on punts until he was injured in the Mississippi State game. P.J. Zimmermann handled the punt snaps against Florida. "We had lost our long snapper," Miles said. "We were not confident that the new snappers could do both (placements and punts). Jackson remarked that the snaps have nothing to do with utilizing the rugby punting scheme. He also said that both O'Hair and Zimmermann are doing a good job with the punt snaps.
I hate the formation and i hate the idea of it....I knew last week that eventually something bad was gonna happen with that formation....what was wrong with the old formation is all i wanna know.
