I've watched LSU football last year and this year and Jackson is not punting the ball as far. Jackson looks far less comfortable back there and rightly so........he's got 4 guys bearing down on him who went through the line untouched.
Jackson averaged 39.9 yards a punt in 2004, 41.1 yards in 2004, and is averaging 42.2 yards this year. http://www.ncaa.org/stats/football/footballMenu.html Jackson is punting the ball better than he ever has.
Red, you know that opinion goes further than facts. Please don't screw up a good thread with the facts. :geauxtige
Wrong. The conference leader in punting is Gordon Ely-Kelso, GeorgiaPSR829120741.623.6331 So Jackson should be leading the conference.....but he's not. In fact, he's so low he's not even listed. Under the NCAA stat leaders for punters, Jackson is not even listed in the top 90.........and that goes down to 35 yards a punt so he's averaging lower than that. That's not net punting either. Net punting as a team we average 31 yards a punt......last in the SEC. But the coverage is not the problem, it's Jackson's kicking. Jackson himself is averaging somewhere like 34 yards a punt. http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/natlRank.jsp?year=2006&div=4&rpt=IA_playerpunt&site=org
LsuCraig, I didn't take it that way, just wanted to clarify my position on it. :yelwink2: I didn't mean to sound defensive.
It's cool man. Either way, Miles has got to be blind on this one. Maybe it'll take a couple more blocks and illegal procedure penalties before he gets it.
Nope. A punter has to average 3.6 punts per game to qualify for the official NCAA ranking. LSU's offense is so effective that Jackson hasn't been able to punt that many times. But the fact remains that he has a higher punting average than Kelso and any SEC punter. You are misinterpreting the statistics. Jackson is not listed because he doesn't have enough punts yet! The LSU team stats clearly show that he has 22 punts for 929 yards (42.2 avg.). Jackson will break into the NCAA individual stats at around #25 if he gets enough punts in Tennessee. What? If Jackson is averaging 42.2 yards a punt and the LSU net punting is a miserable 31.5, then where is that lost 10.7 yards? I'll tell you where--poor coverage. LSU is nationally ranked #117 of 119 in punt return yardage defense!!! It ain't the punter. It aint blocked punts. The Problem is letting our opponents return the damn punt too far. You are wrong, sir. NCAA stats have him at 22 for 929 (42.2) while the LSU statistics say 21 for 871 (41.1). Interesting that they don't agree, but it sure ain't 34 yards.
I think people think Jackson is not punting as far because he doesn't get as much hang time. This would also account for the coverage being poorer, leading to the net punting average being lower. It's only a theory that happens to fit all the facts. The problem I have is the reasoning behind the move. I would argue that Jackson was the MVP for the 2005 team due to his repeated punts into the coffin corner. He had lots of punts downed inside the 10, putting opponents in a hole. That is very important when you consider the number of close games we had last year. The one bad night he had, the SECCG, we lost because we let UGA have a short field (in one case, due to a blocked punt, IIRC). Coach Miles has stated that the reason for the change is because we have an inexperienced deep snapper, causing the need for changing the coverage. Now, I don't want to downgrade the importance of the deep snapper, but the decision wasn't based on the abilities of the strong player, but the ability of the weak player. I don't like the decision making process in that case--we have put one of our better players in an uncomfortable position instead of coaching up the new player. If CLM were to argue that the SECCG block changed his thinking or that he thought the protection was better with this formation, I could at least understand the point. The result is a poor net punting average and very few punts downed inside the 20. Add to that, the best punt this year (at Florida, downed on the 1) was called back for illegal formation, causing a net 27 yard difference on the re-punt. That won't show up on any stat sheet. Jackson is still a great punter, but I do not think this formation puts us in the best position to win. It may all change next year when Jackson is gone, but for this year, I would like to see a return to the strategy that worked so well most of last year. JMHO. GEAUX TIGERS
